I had written it off as a prank...

...and then it happened again.


The first time this happened, my car was parked outside my apartment block. I don't think I looked at the back of the car as I drove off; I only knew there was a problem when I stopped at a traffic light and a motorcyclist came up beside me and started gesturing at the back of my car. I had no idea what the problem was, and with so many horror stories about robbers trying to get you to stop your car, I didn't even dare to roll down my window. (which was kinda dumb when I thought back about it later...after all, it was broad daylight with lots of people around!)

Anyway, I stopped later outside some shops...and saw that the number plate had fallen off. But the double-sided tape was still really sticky, and I had no problem sticking it back. That was several weeks back...and I had no further problems with my number plate...till yesterday.

After that first incident, I wondered about how the number plate could have fallen off. In the end, I concluded that some mischievous person had probably pried it off as a joke (though who, I can't quite imagine...) But later on I always parked inside the apartment block, in the parking lot (when I parked outside it was because someone else needed my space inside ;) ), and in a way, I guess that's why I didn't have any more problems.

Then yesterday, I happened to park in a space in IQ's (where I work) parking lot with the back of my car facing the afternoon sun. (I don't usually park there, I have a "preferred" place :P ) And when I came to get my car...that is what I saw (the photo above).

I started thinking again (you've got to know the cause to be able to "cure" the problem, right?), and I concluded (this time) that it was the heat that made the sticky tape melt or something. Because the first time it happened, my car was parked with its rear end facing the morning sun.

So I thought, I'll avoid direct sunlight in my car's butt in the future. (the sticky tape was still sticky when I stuck it back) But today after work, the number plate was again dangling from those two strips of tape... *sniff* (I had parked at my "preferred place" this time)

So, final conclusion (for now): The heat did it. And after the tape is exposed a few times...well, it gets easier to unstick, huh? Which means that I really have to do something about it soon, or else I'll be missing a number plate!

When I got home, I took out my double-sided tape. And it's written on the packing: "Keep cool". At the back, it's written that it is for use under 40ºC. Um...how hot does a car get? I think it could be well above 40ºC...so I need to find another kind of sticky tape!

Do nurses really KNOW?

I had a bit of a cold last weekend. And since I'm supposed to take the bus this Friday, I decided not to take any chances and go and see the doctor. (it's awful to travel long-distance when you're sick!) The doctor gave me three kinds of medicine, one for the cold, one for inflammation (come to think of it, why had I never heard of this anti-inflammation medicine when I was a child? The French doctors love prescribing it, though...and I never really quite understood what it was for; still don't, actually), and one for sore throat.

The nurse at the dispensing counter was the one who handed me the different pills and told me what they were for. Then I moved away from the counter and put the pills in my bag...with a quick glance at what they were (what was written on the packets) so I could remember which was which later.

And I noticed that the sore throat pills were rather big...and resembled Dequadin. What's more, the commercial name was Sunquadin!

So here, I went back to the counter (there wasn't anyone there at the moment) and asked the nurse, "Is this pill to chew or to swallow?"

And she replied, "Either, as you like."

I checked out the drug's name on the Internet when I got home, and yup, it contains the same active ingredient as Dequadin (dequalinium chloride) and in the same dose. So...they're perfectly equivalent.

For those of you who have used Dequadin before, you might know that we are supposed to suck on the lozenges slowly. So I searched some more and found that we are supposed to do that...be it Dequadin or Sunquadin or any other of its market names. (it's supposed to let it release its effect on the sore area slowly) So, nurse...what on earth were you telling me?!

Cute stuff in and out of cars

Did I mention that driving to work each day is a stroll through cuteness zoo? For some reason, many cars in Penang love to decorate their interior with lots of stuffed toys (and for some, even their exterior). Here are some photos I managed to snap.

Hamtaro in the back of a car! (this was back at Lip Sin, rather long ago) With some companions...but I don't care so much about them :P

A close-up of Hamtaro

It looks so round and cuddly...I want one too!

A Hello Kitty car! :O ♥♥♥

This was the first time I saw it, on the way to work in the morning. The glare of the sunlight was so bright that I was afraid everything would come out dark in the photo. Luckily we can still see what interested me enough to snap a photo :P

Even the sides of the car have Hello Kitty drawings...I saw the car again another day on my way back home, this time in Relau! (on Jalan Paya Terubong) I even memorized the number plate so that I could check it against my photo...and turned out it was the same car. Maybe I'll see it again ^_^ *anticipating happily*


And a poodle I saw one morning. The car was ALWAYS two cars ahead of me. -_- I noticed it from the jam at the traffic light going out of Relau, up to Jalan Tengah where I finally got a photo when we stopped at yet another traffic light. Even from a distance, the poodle looks so cute...staring out the rear window...

Compassion wins where the law cannot

I don't know why I suddenly thought of this Sherlock Holmes story this afternoon. It was The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle.

Holmes caught the thief of a precious stone (the blue carbuncle), but let him go, saying, "If we send him to prison now, he'll be a jailbird for life. But if we let him go, he will never steal again. He is far too frightened for that." (well, maybe not in those actual words, but something like that) The thief in question was a young man.

In another story (I can't remember the detective, but it was in a compilation of "best detective stories", and I am sure I can look it up, if I remember to do that when the book is around :P ), a man stole from a rich woman he knew, and when the detective brought him to the woman (I can't remember the details very well), she didn't accuse him of stealing, but let him go. (did she let him take the stolen goods with him? Probably...I can't remember) And she said to the detective, "You probably think that I'm a sentimental old fool", or something like that. The detective replied with a quote, I believe...something along the lines of, "Blessed are those who forgive." (cheesy as it sounds :P I shall try to look up the exact phrases...)

And then, in Les Misérables, there was the archbishop (archêveque, as I remember in French...I had to look up the English equivalent :P ) - or maybe priest at that moment; I think he only became archbishop later - who helped the protagonist Jean Valjean. Jean Valjean stole from the bishop (finally I think that was what he was, bear with me...you know the religious guy is one and the same :P ), but was caught by policemen as he left. The policemen brought him back to the bishop's house and told him, "We caught this man with your silver (and candlestick, I believe); he said that you gave them to him." The bishop, who had done no such thing, said "And you didn't believe him? Well, it's true." After the policemen left, he said something like "With this silver and candlestick, I buy your soul and send it to God." (j'achète votre âme et l'envoie au Dieu; oh well, something like that, though I think "envoyer" wasn't the exact verb used)

As you can see, the three stories all deal with forgiving thieves. I guess that was why thinking of the first story led me to the others. So you see...compassion can sometimes help more than violence.

Reminds me of recurring themes...remember "protect your heart"?

Assumptions about my age in Penang

Since coming to Penang I have heard several good ones.

"Come here to study ah?"
When we were looking for an apartment, my mother said that it was for me, and several people asked whether I was coming to Penang for my studies. The same thing happened later when we were buying electrical appliances.

"Now you're the youngest here."
This was at work...probably my first or second day. There's one they call xiao mei mei (little sister) there, and someone told me that they called her that because she was the youngest...and "now it's you". But...turned out that she's younger than me. (Not to mention another guy who said to me "you're still young"...and later I discovered that he was actually younger than me (by only a few days, but...you get the idea))

"You just graduated? Or waiting for results?"
And today at badminton there was someone new...after a game he went around introducing himself, and he said to me, "You look young. Just graduated? Or waiting for results?" Er... Well, I told him I was a fresh grad. No sense shocking him with my age. lol

All this in the past three months. I'm already 25! Some people my age already have kids!

Though I think the "setting" has something to do with it. In the first scenario, being with my parents and my uncle/aunt probably made me look like a child. At work they already knew that I had graduated...and at badminton it was a team of working people, so that fellow knew that I couldn't be too young...

But it's better to look young than to look old (I get the feeling that I've said this before, but I don't know where :P ). So I'll just enjoy it while I still can. And also, it reminds me of this post I wrote back in the year of the ox.

And maybe sometimes I can just reply: Yes dears. I just completed my SPM, and I'm in Penang to further my studies. ;)

Of writers taking liberties

I'm reading James Patterson at the moment. And his books are making me think of a rather popular trend among writers: they like to write in the first person for the main character, and yet they want to describe scenes in the third person; scenes that the first person never sees.

I don't like this method of writing. Really, I don't. I find it so pointless to have a first person narrative that...well, isn't really one. If it's in the first person, I like it to be fully that way. If you want to write things from everyone's point of view, just write it all in the third person! It's not like you can't still project the story from a certain character's point of view...there's even a name for that technique, we learnt it in Komsas (literature component if you non-Malay-speaking people are still reading); what was it already? I remember the writing techniques as 1) first-person narrative, 2) "restricted" (was that the word?) third-person narrative, as in we only see what a particular character sees, and 3) third-person narrative, with us overlooking the world from the sky (okay I made the sky part up)

As for the books. I borrowed two from the public library (both by Mr. Patterson the lover of first-and-third-person narratives) I've finished reading Cradle and All, which is actually quite a good book suspense-wise, but I didn't like it that much because it hung on miracles. Too many unexplained bits for my liking.

Now I'm reading London Bridges, which looks more promising, because they're talking about flesh-and-blood criminals. Two of them. But...rather gory killers. Oh well, as if that's not what I read all the time.

Just grow up...

So now they want to delete a so-called offensive word from a dictionary. Why the fuss? A word is a word, good or bad doesn't come into it. If you think it's bad, don't use it. But just because something isn't all rosy and nice doesn't mean it doesn't exist. So just bear with it. GROW UP!

I was going to just post this up as a short status message on Facebook, after reading in The Sun about people wanting to get the word "paria" kicked out of Kamus Dewan (I think that was the dictionary in question). I can't believe what people are debating about these days, it seems like the whole country has gone crazy. (well, those people important enough to make the news, anyway)

But after writing that paragraph, I thought, hey, I want to keep this argument to be able to find it later. So here it is. Since Facebook is such a chameleon... ;)

Hold that gaze!

You know when you see someone you know walking towards you, and you're walking just the opposite way? Usually you'll notice that person coming from quite some distance away, not quite close enough to say hi, but close enough to recognise the person. So...what do you do as you close the gap? Before reaching "say-hi" distance?

Do you look (and smile, I hope) at that person for the 100 seconds it takes to close the gap? Do you pretend that you did not see that person? Or do you just holler out a "hello" when you first see that person?

I can't hold a person's gaze for 10 seconds, let alone 100...so the first isn't an option. (I'd lose any staring contest) And it's just so rude to act like the person isn't there. There goes the second one too. And the third...seriously, can you imagine me doing that?

So? I smile...and look away. Or avert my eyes, more like it. And I glance back every few moments... (and actually I don't quite know what to do) and then when we're at a normal, "conversational" distance, that's when I give an actual smile and/or hello.

Oh, and I even avert my eyes when I'm smiling to someone I don't really know. I mean, even at that "suitable distance" that I'm talking about. (In that case, why on earth am I smiling to that person?!?) It's like, I smile and then I'm afraid they'd get shocked by my stare, so I don't look at them directly for too long.

That's why it's so much easier when people smile to me as well. (but that still doesn't solve the problem of "closing the distance")

And the worst about this is that I don't even know how other people act in the same situation...'cause I'm too busy not looking at them. -_-

Can someone tell me what they do when this happens?

Oh I'm so demure. Now I know what English name I should take if ever I want one. I should call myself Demure Yeoh. (and wait for people to mispronounce it) That was a joke, in case you didn't get it. ;P

The chameleon

Facebook is forever changing.

One thing I noticed about Facebook when I started using it was that it is a "current" thing. There was no way to search for something we had posted earlier (that is still the case, by the way...just the other day Alex mentioned that he would like to be able to search his old links...and I totally agree!)

A lot of people nowadays are using Facebook or messenger instead of e-mail. (Once when I e-mailed a friend, he said that I was probably the only one among his friends who still use e-mail!) But somehow I still prefer the old-school e-mail for important/official things. There is something...a more reliable feeling about e-mail. You know that you can access your old e-mails or search for them. But on Facebook for example...everything gets lost in the jumble and it is really difficult to find anything dating more than a few weeks (sometimes even a few days, depending on how active your profile is) back.

That is why I try not to use Facebook for anything "important", like things that I might want to find again one day.

And now Facebook is changing all the time. It's actually rather annoying...each time I get used to a feature, they take it away and replace it with something "better". Which isn't always really better... (Not long ago they removed the "Post" button and made the "Enter" key used for posting comments instead. That led to my posting several comments inadvertently when I only wanted to insert a new line. Because, unlike a lot of people, I actually like to separate different "points" into different paragraphs...)

What is wrong with them anyway? Is their product so lousy that they have to change everything? And is their "improvement" so bad that they have to change it again, and again? I guess they call it keeping up with the times...but then, why change something that works? ;) (Okay, actually I know why...it's because it works for some and not for others :P )

Okay. End of semi-rant.

How music videos can make or break a song

I'm not a fan of rap. If I like a rap song, it's usually because I like the chorus (the singing part). But as I watched the video for Red Light by Sam Geunjin Kang, I just felt kinda happy. The girl looks so pretty, smiling as she prepares for her date. And the guy...his smile as he heads to their date is just so cute, and rather infectious...
(The opening verse of the song comes from another song, Dreams; I actually like the chorus of that song better!)

Then there is All Time Low by The Wanted. I heard it on the radio, and I liked the song...I think it was kinda catchy. But when I checked out the video... :S

The gist of the lyrics is that they can't get over this girl. They are singing "How do you get out of an all time low?" But their expressions are so smug, so turning-up-their-noses, so...arrogant! It simply doesn't fit what they're singing...it would be more suited to a song where they say "good riddance!" As I watched the video I grew more and more menyampah with these guys...and I wasn't even enjoying the song any more. (but I still like it now when I'm not looking at the video)


Oh, and by the way, I saw a giant at work today. He was HUGE! At least two heads taller than me, I think... (one head taller, I'm used to :P )

Turned out he was from Schneider...so probably from Germany. And he had a companion with him...almost as big. :O

Five years and still going strong!

There have been ups and downs, periods of neglect, but I have always ended up coming back. Throughout these years I have written more or less, and I know that readers have come and gone. But fickle as (some) readers are, it has been five years, and I am definitely staying on.

Every time I read back on something I have written, something that has not crossed my mind since, I feel the memories coming back. And it is definitely worth it.

Five years since I created this blog. My only regret is not to have started sooner.

I like it when...

I like it when you consciously switch to a language I can understand.

I like it when you let me play as an equal.

And even though my tongue stays tied, inside I am thanking you.

Memories of France

I remember how you brought along a dictionary the first time we went to the supermarket.

I remember how we got told off for taking videos in Auchan.

I remember how we made pork and chicken wantan separately.

I remember how you brought crème fraîche and mushrooms to cook when we ate crêpes in my room.

I remember those sushi buffets...how you left the rice uneaten on the plates.

I remember that night we spent gambling with poker chips till 4am.

I remember how you sang along to Michael Wong on Youtube...and the Jay Chou impersonations.

And I remember so many other things...some yet unwritten, some already immortalized in words or images.

(There is something about the written word that makes it more appealing than its typed counterpart. Which is why I am putting an image here...a scribble, yes, but a readable one)

Culture shock

You know, I feel kinda weird not saying goodbye when I get out of the lift.

When I was in France, if we got into the lift when there was someone in it, we (almost) always said "Bonjour" and when getting out, we would say "au revoir". Now I am once again staying in an apartment building, and when I take the lift, I feel so weird being all quiet...I have this urge to say "hello" and "goodbye"!

But that would be perceived as super-duper weirdness by people here...so I hold my tongue.

Luckily it didn't just slip out! Yet...

(The title is exaggerated ;) )

Why do women lie about their age?

That was the topic of discussion on Lite FM this morning as I was driving to work. They went bla bla bla... And then this woman called in with a true story.

She said that she had been dating this man who thought she was two years older than him. And one day he proposed to her. She thought that it would be better to come clean, so she told him the truth: that she was eight years older than him. And he called off the wedding! (exclamation mark was hers)

The DJs were Zac and Sara, and they asked her for more details...Sara asked how long they had been dating, and she said two years. And one of them asked (I think it was Zac), "And in two years, didn't he ever check how old you were?" And that woman said (several times, actually, in the whole conversation) that if he had asked, directly, she would have told him the truth.

But I say, if you tell a guy how old you are, of course he would accept it! He should! Why would he doubt it, unless if he thinks you're a liar (which I wouldn't appreciate if it was me) or if you really don't look the age you told him?

The girl kept saying that the guy called off the wedding because of the age difference. Zac said several times that it could be because she had lied to him (for two years!) but she kept saying "no no no! It was because of the age difference! I would have told him the truth if he had asked, if it was so important to him..." Bla bla bla... that age shouldn't be a factor... Well tell me, if age shouldn't be a factor, why did you have to lie about yours?

Neither of the DJs actually came out and accused the girl, but I think Zac at least thought so...but instead he kept asking, "Didn't the guy ever check?"

But why should he check? I was itching to call in and tell the girl, "You, girl, it's entirely your fault for lying, so stop whining!"

The link day!

I was browsing around the 'net a little today, and I found a few good comics.

First, a biology lesson disguised in a layer of laughter: meet Captain Higgins! It's a little like the parasite that breeds in a cat that I blogged about before (sorry for those who don't read French).

And one about things that are bigger on the inside. I know one thing they missed out: Doraemon's pocket! (and Nobita's drawer...but that isn't so "big" :P )

I also found happy things! Check this one out...have you ever thought of how toilet paper felt? lol

And a bunny!!!

Okay I shall stop now... (I hope :P )

Oh, and these two days it has been hot in the morning and at lunchtime, but suddenly raining (rather heavily) in the afternoon. But luckily it stopped raining before I left for home. I wonder how it will be the next few days...

Of privacy

There is someone on Facebook who just sent a message to probably all his contacts to ask them for their address, if they want him to send them an invitation to his wedding. And now a whole lot of people are replying to the whole bunch of people, which certainly includes people they don't know, more or less, and giving their address to all these people!

What craziness is this?! What do you think you're doing, giving your address to random strangers?! What if I publish all your addresses online and when the wedding is, so that burglars will know when you're not at home?!?!

I do so wish I could do that...but then I might get sued or get thrown into jail. So I shall refrain. But I would dearly love to do that. -_-

So instead, I'm wondering...is there any way to delete myself from a Facebook mailing list?


Psst. By the way. 48 people on the mailing list (one of them the sender, meaning 47 possible "replyers", 46 if you don't count me in). 15 people sent me their addresses. Two asked the guy to give them the invitation by hand (I wonder whether they would have given their addresses if it weren't possible to receive the invitation by hand). So that already makes more than 30% of the "population" who give their addresses away to the world.

Edit (5th April): Plus 6. That makes 21 out of the 46 possible replyers.

Edit (6th April): And another one.

Edit (8th April): Satu lagi!

Something funny

Yesterday I went to my grandmother's (and uncle's) place for lunch. I parked outside their gate, since the other day my aunt had told me to park there so that I wouldn't have to walk too far...and I could always move my car if any of them wanted to drive out.

And it turned out that my cousin wanted to go out. Not a problem...I could move my car. But since I was eating, he said he would move it for me. So I passed him my keys.

A few minutes later, he came into the kitchen and said sheepishly, "Paiseh paiseh (it's embarrassing), I can't drive a manual."

But the thing is...my car is an automatic. Haha...

Okay, I'm not sure which is more paiseh, not knowing how to drive a manual or telling people that you can't drive a manual when there was no need to. :P

Discovering Relau

Well, a small part of it. I went to check out the park near my apartment today (Taman Metropolitan Relau) It's not bad...rather pretty and well-maintained. There were quite a lot of people jogging or sitting around the playground (with the children playing).


I wasn't planning on taking any photos, but I came across this snowy-white cat, which caused me to snap a few photos with my phone...and then I just thought, why not take a photo of the park... - should I call it the parkhouse? - as well?

And here's the cat...it was snoozing on a seat in the (closed - I wonder when it's open?) cafeteria.

It's so white!! I never saw a stray cat so white.

Just as I zoomed in (I didn't want to scare it away by moving too close) and wanted to take a photo, it yawned! Hey, I'm taking a photo of you, couldn't you at least smile? -_-
:P

And then it decided to ignore me.

You know how some parks have those "exercise points" along their jogging track? (Like in Taman Gelora in Kuantan...) Well, this park goes a step further...there are some of those gym material (like those where you pump your arms, and those where you walk (though not a treadmill...the one where you place your feet on the pedals and move them in a "walking" manner (oh gosh I'm bad at this...that's what you get from someone who doesn't go to gyms :P ))) Though they're made of the same material as those monkey bars...to withstand the outdoors.

So...maybe I'll go there sometimes. :)

My new neighbourhood

In my previous post I mentioned that I had been busy moving. Some of you might know that I have already moved...to Relau.

Last weekend we went to see my cousin's new place nearby, and from there we can see my neighbourhood. The whole of it! So I took a photo... (it was from the 19th floor, by the way)

I'm living somewhere on the right of the photo...

It has been raining quite a lot lately, very frequently. So I rather lucky that it wasn't raining when I took this photo...otherwise I don't think we'd be able to see anything!

And here's a translation of the poem in the previous post:

Write to leave a trace
A spot of ink on a blotter
Write
To avoid the worst
To remember
Break free from this dark past
To forget, to remember recall
Write
When we fail to say
Write
To escape
Write ...
For the pleasure
Write
To ease the pain
Write
To be less afraid
Imagine new colours
Write
To lay down suffering
Write
To raise hope
For deliverance

Hope you like it!

Edit (1st March 2014):
I came across this post again, and decided to change one of the words "remember" to "recall", so that we don't have the word "remember" twice. Just for a better translation. :)