Sunday, April 30, 2006

My In-Laws

It's late and this is gonna be a short post. I would like you to meet my parent-in-laws to be! I want to thank God and you both for bringing Daniel into this world, he has truly made me so happy! Ha Ha Ha...
Source : bjunkyard.com
Oh, by the way, here's a pic of Daniel asleep, *swoons*. Can my life be anymore complete than this? But you know what, the thing is, there are probably about a few thousand (or hundred thousand???) of women out there worldwide, young and old, who are in love with my Daniel. I heard Maggie Q stands a better chance than most of us though. Ha ha ha ...(edited entry: Oops! Seems there is news now that Maggie Q is with Edison Chen! I hope Daniel's not suffering a heartbreak! There will be many of us who would like to lend him our shoulders to cry on....wait a minute, shoulders? Daniel, take ALL OF ME! LOL ...

Source : asianfanatics.net
And once again, ending the post with a pic of Yutaka in a yukata (unisex cotton kimono) hee hee...I learned the word yukata when I was in Japan and remembered the word by picturing my Yutaka in a yukata! I looked through the internet, and found this ..... just like I had imagined it.

I'll take Yutaka in the yukata, nevermind the Lotte sweets!
source : communityzero.com

Who so loves believes the impossible. - Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Saturday, April 29, 2006

Japan - Part 6

Yes, I'm still not done with Japan yet. There is really quite a lot to write about and yes, in case you all are wondering, I'm still in love with Japan! I would have taken this photo myself except that one wouldn't normally be carrying a camera into such a place, a phone maybe (but since only 3G phones work in Japan, I didn't bring mine there). Anyway, when I saw this, I was laughing myself silly and did wish that I had a camera with me at that time. Luckily, Alicia had her 3G phone with her and snapped a shot of it. So, a shout out of thanks to Alicia for this photo.
In Japan, all the toilets that I've come across, have a bidet (A sanitary fitting for washing the nether parts of the body. Water is supplied from an overim mixer or an upward spray. The discharge is waste water not soil water). They also have heated toilet seats and that brings such a warm feeling (ha ha ha) when one is seating down on it during cold weather. These two functions were very welcoming and I even thought of changing the one in my home to one with a bidet (can do without the heated toilet seat cover, it's warm enough in Malaysia). However, the one that made me laughed like a mad woman was this particular toilet that I went into (if I recall correctly, it was located at Keihan Hotel, Universal Walk).

Not only did it have the usual bidet function but there were two additional functions that I saw for the first time! First it was the "Flushing Sound" button (with controllable volume buttons too!). Second, it was "Powerful Deodorizer" function! One can only imagine how this Flushing Sound button (with a big "Music" note by the way!) will come in handy. You have a function to mask the sound of one who is having a bad case of diarrhea or a severe case of just plain flatulence!!!!! Next, you have another function to mask the smell!!!!
S o, it looks like the Japanese are a very considerate and shy lot. After my laughter subsided, I did think to myself, hey, we could really use this back home, after recalling my nasty experiences (being the unfortunate one, putting up with the sound and smell of others) in public toilets in Malaysia!

The other thing that I was amazed at was this high tech mini-bar in Keio Hotel. Here, the drinks "live" in their own little compartment. I remember what we use to do with the normal mini-bar when we traveled domestically. We use to take the hotel's can drinks out of the fridge and put in our own, only to put the hotel's drinks back when we check out. However, with this fridge, no such thing. The moment you pull the can out of its compartment, you would activate a mechanism that would send a data to the front desk that you have consumed the drink. Nope, putting back the can in will not deactivate or revert the charges. So, those traveling with little kids to Japan, take note! I can imagine, "Wah, so many different drinks here. Let's see, wah, so nice! (puts it back...) Oh, what's this one? Oh....mmm, now what about this one? Wah! This can is nice too" At the end of your stay, you will also "Wah!" and faint at the sight of the mini-bar bill given to you!

Another Japanese creation, Venus Fort is a lovely shopping mall in Odaiba, across from the Toyota City Showcase. It reminded me of the hotels in Las Vegas. It has the loveliest ceiling and surroundings. I did feel like I was outdoors as I was walking around this mall (minus the natural sunshine). It was romantic and I guess that's why they called the place Venus Fort. The "sky" looks quite real and it felt peaceful too walking on the "streets" of Venus Fort. So, it seems the Japanese are not only polite (maybe in their own country though, they are not known for their politeness in our country!), shy, considerate, intelligent, high tech but are also capable of creating lovely masterpiece such as this for all to make this world a better place (a lot less smellier one for sure! Ha Ha Ha...).

Recaps :-
Part 5
Part 4
Part 3
Part 2
Part 1

Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity. - Charles Mingus

Friday, April 28, 2006

Fear Factor - Japan

I received a short video from Mr and Mrs Pitt. It was taken during one of their Japanese meals while they were on vacation in Japan itself. When I saw it, I could not believe that Mrs Pitt actually had the guts to do what she did. So, I really have to blog about it as I'm so proud of her! I captured two shots of the video that pretty much says it all.
In the video, those tiny fishes are alive and swimming about frenzily. When I first saw it on screen, I was taken aback that such things were served to customers, I guess not in Malaysia but it must be common in Japan. What followed was even more shocking to me. It was seeing my dear Mrs Pitt drinking it all up!!! Though she did squirmed in her chair while swallowing it and continued for the next few seconds after, she nevertheless drank it all in one go! I didn't know you had that in you!I guess once it awhile we have to do something like this as to make our journey in life more memorable (like me, eating salted cooked worms in Kunming. Which to my surprise is a lot tastier than how they looked, they actually tasted like cheese!!!)
Well, Mrs Pitt! I will never look at you the same way again. I'm impressed indeed ... I'm not worthy! Ha Ha Ha ... The video didn't show whether Mr Pitt and Zahara drank the fishes too though, I wonder if they did.

Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less. - Marie Curie

Thursday, April 27, 2006

No One's Watching!

I just got back home from having an amusing time from people watching. I was at Holiday Villa and was at La Vida (I think that's the name of the place) with CC, her hubby and Lyn. If one was ever too shy to dance, they should try this place. I had the time of my life, just sitting down and watching the crowd dance. The people here just love to dance. They danced to the live band (which was Alleycats) and to the music played by the deejay, of course. They even danced when Alleycats sang "Happy Birthday" to some of the patrons celebrating there. Here, one or two or three or four would just walk to the dance floor and start strutting their stuff while the band sings. They simply don't care about what other people think and they dance like no one's watching. I see a lot of happy faces, from the young to the old, I think you're talking about people in their early 60s! And that puts a smile on my face. How great it is to be enjoying one self this way with no inhibitions. How would you live your life if no one's watching?

I'm gonna make this short and sweet as I'm going to sleep soon. Here's a pic from CC, another one taken in Japan. It's a little Japanese girl who just had her face painted in Tokyo Disneyland. She is such a cutie! And another reason to remember Japan by! Good night and God Bless Everyone!


A little girl is sugar and spice and everything nice - especially when she's taking a nap. ~ Author Unknown

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Wanton Me Meets Wanton Me

I had lunch at Ikea earlier and enjoyed my shot of caffeine for the day (3 cups!) after a talk that nearly sent me to Dreamland towards the end of it! Ha ha ha ... Went to Popular Book Store and bought myself a Japanese craft book! Gees, this Japanese attraction is still going on strong! Well, even if I don't have the time to start on the projects, it's still nice to be able to just look at the book. I think I'm going crazy! (not that I've been sane all this while), so then I should say, I think I have gone crazier!

I then
rushed from PJ to Bangsar, afraid of being late as it was raining quite heavily. Went for my tea invitation today. Met up with Gardner himself (friendly fella) and was directed to my seat by Kimmy whom I think is the event manager. Gardner came on shortly and gave a short intro about Selena and Hossan, the cast of Wanton Me.
Selena & Hossan gamely posing for me while they were waiting for Gardner to do the intro,
seated behind the tea spread (those aren't props, okay?).

Selena then came on and introduced herself. She told us that she just got married and that a girlfriend of hers was so happy and made a remark "Selena, if someone like you can get married, that gives hope to the normal ones like us!" Hee hee hee. She then sang a song accompanied by Hossan on the piano. After that they sang a duet. Selena then asked whether there were any questions from the press but the floor was silent! She then told us that we could ask her personally later. Gardner then invited us to start on the tea spread and sure enough, Selena and Hossan were swarmed by photographers and were kept busy answering questions from the media! Looks like our Malaysian media folks are a shy bunch.
Look at how close the camera is to their faces! Believe it or not, this is considered
one of their more serious pose. The rest were even more hilarious.

I then asked Gardner for permission to post the pics on my blog and approached Kimmy to get a press kit for more info. Kimmy gave me a set with no hassle at all. Nice folks. The pics without my blog address are from the press kit courtesy of Gardner & Wife. No, that's not me in the photo below, though I must say that Selena and I have our Wanton similarity! Well, I have bought tickets for Wanton Me on May 19 and judging by today's showcase (albeit a very short one), it'll be a jolly good show.


What is this, an audience or an oil painting? - Milton Berle

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Rondo 2006

I met up with KCC downtown and we had our usual indulgence of the crispy cheong (intestines! the only "weird" stuff I will eat 'cos it's crispy) curry noodles at Jalan Tong Shin. She then handed me a present, Rondo 2006, a series collaboration between Japan and Korea. She knows that I'm crazy about Yutaka and had bought it for me. Hee hee...God Bless Her! I then visited mom and ended up watching about an hour of the first disc (3 in total). Yutaka has certainly grown older. Apparently he didn't want people to think he's famous because of his looks and therefore change his style. He looked tired too but I was wondering whether he looks this way, simply because he's an undercover cop. He's a gang member, headed by the very same man who killed his father when he was a young boy. So, the way he looks is realistically enough for someone who is constantly on his toes, not knowing whether he'll live or die at any moment! (they have had 5 moles in the past, all discovered and killed!). Yutaka's love interest is Choi Ji Woo, best known for her role in Winter Sonata. The first hour is engaging enough and makes me wanna have a "marathon" fest but I have to wake up early for a talk. So, my dear Yutaka will have to wait for now.

Not being able to find a decent size picture of the poster in the internet, I decided to test out Brother's (again, the brand, not my bro!) scanning capabilities. I must say, the colour turn out rather nice and clear. I tried to find out what Rondo means and came up with this in Google:
a musical composition during which the first part or subject is repeated several times. I wonder if this is the correct meaning or are there others.
So it seems, my love affair with the Japanese and Korean continues, kept alive by shows on TV, trip to Japan and now, my very own Rondo. Well, I'm still in love with Yutaka, relegating him to be my older man while Daniel takes my toy boy spot! LOL! Best of both worlds of course. I still miss Japan, I really do.

Missing someone gets easier every day because even though it's one day further from the last time you saw each other, it's one day closer to the next time you will. ~ Author Unknown

Monday, April 24, 2006

Engrish Please!

Another post on Japanese Engrish, starting off with a pic from CC. Japan is a very clean country, so I was very surprised to see this sign on a waste bin in Tokyo Disneyland where we are literally told to "Waste Please". Well, at least it's on a rubbish bin, so when the people in Japan do waste, they waste it in the right places, maintaining the cleanliness of their country. Where as in Malaysia, we "waste" it in all the wrong places! It's really a shame. Just the sight of seeing someone tossing out rubbish from their cars and onto the road makes me wonder what sort of mentality these "offenders" possess, cow sense probably!

Source : The Star Online, April 20
CLOGGED WITH RUBBISH: This area leading to the Sungai Long quarry is strewn with rubbish. Public apathy is the order of the day as no one cares whether the environment is polluted.

The next one is from Mrs Pitt. Taken off the glass display of a restaurant in Japan. We think the sign was suppose to read "Cold noodles ... with white yam and raw egg yolk". It looks like there aren't many Japanese who are capable of doing a decent English translation. You know what they say though, when you are in a foreign land, it's best to be adventurous when it comes to the local food (then we won't have to do any guessing work!).

Drawing on my fine command of the English language, I said nothing.
- Robert Benchley

Sunday, April 23, 2006

Japan, Kabuki-Cho - Part 5

CC passed me her photos of the Japan trip. And now finally I shall tell you about our walkabout in the red light district area. As usual, the flesh trade as we know is quite normal, with the usual escorts/prostitution, catering for the "depraved" male. So, nothing interesting about that. However, we were told that the red light area also had the flesh trade catered for women! Our curiosity got the better of us and we set out into the night on foot, making our way to Kabuki-Cho, the infamous place. Click on the map to see the location and you'll see that our hotel wasn't that far away.

I must say that I have never felt so safe walking in a red light area (not to mention, on foreign soil) and we were truly amazed at the bright neon lights that lit the city along the way. Almost similar to Times Square, New York, Kabuki-Cho was thriving with activities. Imagining tiny and dingy lanes where sleazy people existed, we were shocked to see that it wasn't like that at all. Bright, big walk areas and tie-wearing "solicitors" greeted us.

This is the main road, all the action is at the side lane on the left!
Then we saw them, billboards after billboards, clubs and clubs of men providing services for women. We could not read Japanese but we saw code and telephone numbers for the men. At one point we saw a couple of the men in the flesh, standing on the sidewalk and they were featured on the club's front display. They looked quite good. However, as per my observation, a lot of them looked like they were from characters of Final Fantasy. We were fortunate enough that no one stopped CC from taking pictures of the billboards and displays as we saw someone being stopped. As a matter of fact, we were even solicited! Ha Ha Ha .... So, thanks CC, for letting me put up the pics.
Then, we came across some displays that have women "butches" too for women! We were trying to figure out whether they were feminine men but as it turns out, they were manly woman! LOL ..... These were considered the nicer looking ones, there were some with facial hair, just plain weird! We're still debating over the sexes, the one at the top left corner looks like a man though.
Then we totally gave up trying to figure out which was a guy and which was a girl as we saw more of the billboards! None caught my eye, not unless he looked like Yutaka or Daniel Henney! What I do know is that Japanese male escorts are sure a feminine looking bunch!
Well, it's good to know that the needs of women in Japan are being met too and that they do not stereotype it, limiting it for the men. Hmmmph...Maybe that's why the Japanese women are so chirpy! LOL ...

Sex... the pleasure is momentary, the position ridiculous, and the expense damnable - Lord Chesterfield

Saturday, April 22, 2006

More Laughs On The Way!

About two months back, I caught Actorlympics and wrote a review on it and was pleasantly surprised that Edwin Sumun dropped by and posted a comment. Anyway, things have been a bit hectic since I came back from Japan and I have been catching up on some blog reading that I've been missing out on. From Edwin's blog, I came across this poster!

Yay! Another round of Actorlympics! Edwin, being the diva that he is, looks gorgeous (He's the one who's bald on the top row, not the one at the bottom, that's Harith! - this sentence was added when someone asked me who is the bald lady?!!! Now I'm wondering whether Edwin will be happy or unhappy to hear that. I should ask him ;P). Rashid looks a bit odd. He looks a bit sickly to me, er.....just odd. And Douglas seems to have a new hair do, are those curls I see??! Anyway, if I'm in town, I do intend to catch this show again. I hope to see some improvement to the show and I hope my regular kakis would give this another chance as they were more disappointed than me the last time round. I know, it's easy to say what's wrong but when they call out for ideas, we'll just be keeping quiet. Our creative minds suddenly go into sleep mode and we try with all our might but .... NOTHING. Nothing comes to mind. Sigh, that's why we're the paying audience because if we were to be put on stage, our acting and improvisations would suck big time! Ha ha ha....

I'll be getting tickets for Wanton Me and I guess I'll enquire about for this new round of Actorlympics too. Oh, by the way, I am one of the lucky 10, who has been invited by Gardner & Wife for tea at Montes next Tuesday to meet Wanton Me's cast, Selena and Hossan.



WANTON ME!

Date May 15 – 28, 2006
Venue The Actors Studio, Bangsar Shopping Centre
---------------------------
“I have never laughed so hard [in Singapore] before!” – Today, Singapore

SINGAPORE'S "BETTE MIDLER"!

Fresh from her sell-out success of Dim Sum Dollies: Singapore's Most Wanted at The Esplanade, playing to over 30,000 adoring fans over its two weeks, Singapore's answer to Bette Midler descends on Kuala Lumpur. Abetted by her aide-de-camp Hossan Leong, a grand piano, big hair, wacky lyrics, a forest of false eyelashes and mile-high shoes (and that's just Hossan's costumes!), KL may never recover!





A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor's book.
~ Irish Proverb

Friday, April 21, 2006

Love Stone

Did anyone catch Drew Carey Show today? It was so funny, he was worried that his girlfriend would not want to marry him should she see the "real" him. He apparently has been very careful as not to show the real side of him to her. So, to test whether she'll accept him, he first told her that he wanted to eat watching TV instead at the dining table. She was okay with that. Then he purposely scattered Playboy magazines at the coffee table and she said that she wouldn't stop him from reading them. At this point, he was amazed that she was such a wonderful woman. Then while eating, he farted! And she laughed. At this point, he was truly amazed and proposed to her. But she said no..... He later brought her to the movies and before the movie started, Drew appeared on screen. He and his friends had pre-recorded a song about her and when it ended, Drew (in person) went down on one knee and proposed. She said yes but when they left the cinema, she said no. The reason was that she felt that Drew had done it because of the deadline he set and not because he felt that she was truly the one. Well, to show her that his love for her was real, he cancelled his reservations (he had set himself a date to get married and had made all the arrangements!) and lost his downpayment. After he told her what he did, the girlfriend then decided to marry him!

I have heard some friends who mentioned that they would like to get married by when and when. Some have succeeded while some had "moving" targets and the targets are still moving! As for me, I'm not looking. I believe when love comes, it will just creep up on me. Ha ha ha ... Either that or remain single, enjoying each and every meaningful day of my life. I cannot fathom how one can just settle down for the sake of settling down. I mean, marrying someone that you don't really love and hope that things will turn out for the best? How can you even start a marriage, deceiving your other half from the very beginning and hope for the marriage to work out? Once you start lying, you have to tell one lie after another to cover the previous lie. You either lie till the truth gets the better of you or give in to your conscience at one point in time and own up to the truth.

If only finding love is as easy at this! The message near the end got a little lost on me though. There are two stones like this, each situated at opposite ends. This was taken at the Kiyomizu Temple too.








I believe in true love (maybe it doesn't exist, hence, I remain single till today), a love so great that when you look into your other half's eyes, you can just get teary eye. The only thing is, meeting someone who not only does that to you but one who loves you the same in return. My criteria? Good sense of humour and able to sing well (so, that we can duet in karaoke! LOL) That, eventually, that person's love for you will never fade and that you'll grow old together. Because when I love, I love with all my heart, not because the clock is ticking. Not because it seemed like a good idea but just because. Sure, there will be ups and downs but being together means working things out together in a place I can call Home. But of course, in reality, such love is truly hard to find. Yes, a love that is unconditional, accepting you not only for all the good but also the bad habits, farts and all! Ha ha ha ...

Love is like a friendship caught on fire. In the beginning a flame, very pretty, often hot and fierce, but still only light and flickering. As love grows older, our hearts mature and our love becomes as coals, deep-burning and unquenchable. ~ Bruce Lee

Thursday, April 20, 2006

Black & White

Contrary to what Jo says, this is not a Daniel Henney shrine. I do not worship him, I simply love him! Is that so wrong for me to be blogging about him? I have said it before, I will say it again! It's my blog! I will blog on whatever I like and even if it's my Daniel time and time again, so be it! And anyway, he's well received! Ha ha ha ...
www.kdynamic.com/hot/
And to be fair, here's one of my Yutaka! I have not forgotten him. But he has changed his hairstyle now. I like him this way. Here's another guy who looks good in a black and white shot! Yutaka is purely Japanese, so to say Daniel is an Asian is not really true. But who cares where they both are from! Sigh ..... *swoons* I'm off to Dreamland/Fantasy Island again.

Last night I dreamed I ate a ten-pound marshmallow, and when I woke up the pillow was gone. - Tommy Cooper

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Japan - Part 4

Mrs Pitt called and told me that she loved Japan too. She took lots of photos and said that she'll be sending them to me soon (including some pics of Engrish!) Mrs Pitt, I'm so looking forward to your trip here with Zahara (LOL!) in July.
Let's eat two peace of skewered meat!

This is the place to look for sweat!
Earlier today, I woke up this morning feeling feverish and had leg cramps! Not good, stayed in and skipped the talk that I was suppose to attend. When I signed on Messenger later, I played Aunt Agony again, and spent about 2 hours online counseling my friend. All is well at the end of it, at least for now. I hope my friend can move on and be happy again. I have been giving so much advice of late that I think I can make a living out of it! Who wants to be my first paying client for me to listen? Ha ha ....Eh, who'll listen to MY problems???? :o( Guess I can't have any! :p Seriously though, maybe Mrs Pitt! But she won't be able to listen to me should I need to talk to her in the next couple of weeks. She's having jet lag and can barely keep a conversation going as she was so sleepy!

I'm still thinking about Japan. As a tourist, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. The food, the culture and the people. I've never felt so safe walking around the city at night, though CC and I were in the red light district area. We wanted to see how the area was like. That however, is another story for another day! The scenery and sights are almost picture perfect, postcard material! Japan, I'll be back!

Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn't.
- Erica Jong

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Fantasy Island

I was chatting with this guy friend of mine over the internet and he asked me "Does it mean if a girl is pouring out her misery and problems (relationship matters) to a guy, then there is nothing more than just friendship between them?" Well, I gave him my opinion which would be yes, nothing more than just friends.

That's the way girls are. Turns out that we are more interested in "bad" guys than nice ones. Told my friend that in due time, he would be able to find a girl. As girls get older, our views change. Either that or some of the "older" girls become desperate! Ha ha ha ....He then sent me this comic strip "Mr Nice Guy", saying that's the story of his life. Quite funny and true. There are a number of strips available online for viewing.

Actually why are we attracted to the bad guys? More excitement? We wanna be bad ourselves? Why? But really though, later in life, I'm sure most of us don't mind the nice guys. When we were young, we thought it's cool to have a bad-a** attitude. I look around nowadays and see that from the teens. I've not grown old but have matured to know that it's not cool to have such an attitude and I've matured to know that a nice guy is a good catch! I was never that bad anyway but did find nice guys boring! And we know that there is more to appearance too (but that still doesn't stop us girls from living on Fantasy Island, surrounded by gorgeous looking guys!). That's why a lot of us find "My Lovely Sam Soon" so entertaining. My Lovely Daniel indeed.

Here's one of Kim Sun Ah (who reportedly put on the extra weight to play the role of Sam Soon, just like Renee Zellweger for her Bridget Jones' role). I was doing a search for Daniel's pic and came across hers. Wow! She looks sweet and demure, so different from the series!


Of course, to end my night on a sweet note, and by popular demand from some of my blog visitors ..... help, I'm melting ...


My wife was afraid of the dark...then she saw me naked and now she's afraid of the light. - Rodney Dangerfield

Monday, April 17, 2006

PC Fair

Went to the PC fair today. Bro took his car to service and I ended up having to drive. We arrived at KL Convention Centre at 11am, just when the fair opened. We thought we wanted to go there early to beat the crowd. As it turned out, there were already throngs of people and we were like part of a cattle drive, being slowed ushered into our tiny barn! Well, I had some good deals I think. This is a list of my new stuff : -

1) Webcam - Logitech RM75
2) FM Modulator - RM68
3) SD card 1G - RM125 (Bought through SK)
4) 2G Flash Drive - RM175 (Free two sticky pads)
5) 6 in 1 Printer - Brother RM499 (Free RM50 Petrol Voucher, metal cd case, shoe bag, trolley and 1 additional black cartridge)
6) Headphones for my Nano - Philips RM59 (free umbrella)
Isn't my printer a beauty?
Bro's list
1) Compact Flash card 1G - Kingston RM103
2) FM Modulator - RM68
3) Laptop speakers - Philips RM199
4) 2G Flash Drive - RM180
5) 19" LCD Monitor - BenQ (2ms response time!!!!) RM1250

Brother's (the brand, not my bro!) booth had a great marketing idea, when you buy their printer, the printer's already strapped to a trolley which they give out for free. Sure beats lugging the large box around but maneuvering the trolley through the exhibit halls was quite tricky. The trolley helped bro too as he also added on the LCD monitor box too. Great idea, talk about meeting customers' needs. Bro and I went home happy, and couldn't wait to admire our stuff. The admiration will continue later, I'm off to bed!


In department stores, so much kitchen equipment is bought indiscriminately by people who just come in for men's underwear. - Julia Child

Sunday, April 16, 2006

Sentimental Soul

Yes, I have started throwing things out and now, it's official. My living area is now a war zone! I will receive no visitors probably for the next one week or so as I intend to clear my store room, my bed room, well, practically ALL areas! I'm gonna go through and clear my wardrobe too. So, make that 1 month! Ha ha ha ... Then I will move on to my mini makeover for the house. I think removing some major clutter will already be a mini makeover in itself!

Actually, how did all that clutter come about? I have always been keeping certain things for some sentimental reason or another. Do you know that I still have a birthday card from Mrs Pitt, wishing me A Very Happy 8th Birthday? Gosh, the card is older than some of you! Time really flies, I still remember when I was a toddler, going out with the family. It was just little trips here and there but they were major outings to me then. Really big deal! Ah, it's easy to make a toddler happy! I loved going out and we would normally be taking photographs, I still have them in my possession, black and white ones.

Someone said that I looked like Godzilla, posing just before I turn around and destroy the Parliment Building.
So, actually, keeping all these memories since then, one can surely understand how my sentimental "clutter" grew. I will still be keeping them but it's time for me to let some go. For these, I will always remember them in my heart. I don't suppose all of you will understand, maybe a few. Looking at such things, I'm immediately transported back to those days. It's a wonderful feeling but then I came across another card just now and I started crying. It was a card that had brought me much happiness when I got it back then but I cried as that happiness is no longer around. I dried my tears after a minute and told myself ... there are still other things to be really thankful for and to be happy about. I smiled to myself, and my life goes on.

In order to have great happiness you have to have great pain and unhappiness - otherwise how would you know when you're happy?
~ Leslie Caron

Saturday, April 15, 2006

Hopelessly Addicted

I'm liking My Lovely Sam Soon more and more and find myself laughing out loud watching the show. Sam Soon (Kim Sun Ah) is really so fierce and Samshik is getting cuter as I see more of him (but of course still not as cute as Dr Henry Kim, my Daniel Henney!). Samshik looks like a little boy at times when he's with Sam Soon. In this show, he's 27 and she's 30. Is it just me or does Sam Soon looks very much like the actress from Holland Village (Chen Li Ping), the one who played the big sister, Mo WanWan! Their characters were similar. Overweight, fierce but loved by men. Of course, Sam Soon looks like a younger version. That's "Mo WanWan" in the pic below, the one on the extreme left with the rest of the cast of Holland V.
http://www.theurbanwire.com/jul03/reviews/HollandV.jpg
Here's a music video clip of "My Lovely Sam Soon" made by a "rychel". Tell me, don't the two actresses look alike?


I try not to get myself started on a TV series 'cos once I do, I'll just have to make sure I watch the whole series! The last show that made me so "crazy" was With Love, starring my Yutaka Takenouchi. I still remember telling Mrs Pitt about Yutaka when she was back here. After I showed her the first scene of Yutaka, she was hooked too and we went through the 8 vcds in one nite. Of course, we fast forwarded the show and saw only scenes where Yutaka appeared. I think we slept at 4 am that night! Sigh, so little time, so many distractions! Ha ha ha .....

I want a man who's kind and understanding. Is that too much to ask of a millionaire? ~ Zsa Zsa Gabor

Friday, April 14, 2006

Green Tea

Just got back ahout an hour ago. We had gone for drinks after the meeting. We were still talking about our Japan trip. I was telling them that for the past few days, I've been watching the NHK channel on Astro. It gives me the feeling that I'm still in Japan, in a hotel room. I guess it's because I enjoyed the holiday and this was just one of the way to let that good feeling linger just a little bit longer. Then I found out that I wasn't the only one, JC1 said that after her trip to China, she would tune into the Chinese channels too.

Well, I must mention about the food I had in Japan. Not to be missed was naturally green tea ice cream. I managed to eat four of them over the 5 days there. It was really good. The ones at Universal Studio and the airport especially. Actually, I jumped at the chance for anything with green tea. The Green Tea cream puff is also something to die for! Well, I once saw an episode of Oprah where it was revealed that if we were to substitute our coffee or tea with green tea for 6 weeks, we should be able to lose 10 lbs. Great! Having green tea ice cream and cream puffs for 6 weeks isn't so hard to do! I'm sure I can stick to this routine! LOL ....



Sorry, I had actually taken a bite of them before I remembered to take a shot of it! Both were so sinfully delicious. It's usually the case, I have yet to come across any tasty health food! Hah! Alfalfa- yucks, spirulina - bleh, flax seed - what? me eat this sand? Ha ha ha...

But enough of Japan for now. Let's talk Korean for awhile. I'm off to watch today's episode of My Lovely Sam Soon. Thank goodness for the internet. I can hear my handsome Daniel Henney's voice. The one showing on TV has been dubbed to Mandarin whereas the ones on the internet is in the original format with English subtitles! Yay!

Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals dying of nothing. ~ Redd Foxx

Thursday, April 13, 2006

Japan - Part 3

A friend wanted to know more about the thoughts that were going through my mind. Yes, being in Japan had its moments of madness and serenity. Extremes, but both were welcomed. Madness to remind myself that I am alive and serenity to remind me to live life! What was going through my mind indeed?

Since my dad passed away, I know all things happened for a reason. I slowly and consciously told myself to accept things for what they are. I can try changing them, but if it refuses to be moulded to the way I want it to be after a few attempts, then the change must come from me. Life is a free flow and definitely can be made more pleasant from conscious efforts to stop reacting adversely to unpleasant things or people around us. After 8 years of such efforts, it has come rather easily for me to put things aside. However, sometimes it's the people around me who might not understand my nature of dealing with things.

It might appear that I have become insensitive, please be informed that I'm not. It's not the case but I just want to move on, I don't want to waste time on mindless discussion about who did what, who said what, trying to figure out what went wrong. The truth is, that's the past, nothing can be undone. The clock is ticking, acknowledge what went wrong and move on. I dislike dwelling on a subject and on a negative emotion. Again, I had to consciously "remove" and "place" myself somewhere more pleasant, if not physically, then mentally. I learn to cry less and laugh more this way. Of course, I'm not perfect, now and then I might still be affected but I check myself, telling myself to get over it as soon as possible. It's not THAT easy as there are people around me. I never make myself feel negative, it's the people and things around me that do. Just remember, the problem does not come from the people/things, whether one makes it a problem or not comes from how we react to them. When people start to annoy me, I simply remove myself from the scene. After all there are some people who don't have a clue and I being the one who is aware shouldn't subject myself to such agony, as long as I'm able to do something about it! Ha ha ha ....




If only everyone did that, the world would be a happier place. No animosity, no anger, no negative feelings. Period. We would then be having a ball and painting the town red, because living is already a cause for celebration. Maybe it's just me. I think anyone who has ever lost a loved one or a dear friend would wish for more time with them. Tell me, if you only had a few more precious moments with them, would you waste it by filling it with negative emotions? Learn from that, cherish whatever time we have now with our dear friends and loved ones that are still by our side and let's not ever WISH for more time again.
Paint it red!
I'm still learning and it gets easier for me day by day. In a way, it's true, to feel more positive, one need to feel less negative-feel more to feel less. I know it doesn't make much sense to some, but it does to me. Expect nothing and you will never be disappointed and we will start to make our journey in life more enjoyable!

When you feel dog tired at night, it may be because you've growled all day long. ~ Author Unknown