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. :)