Monday, October 23, 2006

Courtesy is a thing of the past. Today we headed to Ikea for a quick lunch and some coffee. The festive break attracted a horde of families and thankfully we managed to find an empty table cluttered with plates amidst the incessant market-like chatter. Now Ikea’s cafeteria-styled eatery encourages their patrons to put away their plates and utensils at designated areas before they leave the place. Generally pampered, most people will break the number one rule of courtesy by not clearing the tables after they’re done. Okay no biggie really.

Then Boon went to get some coffee but returned to our table empty-handed after a couple of minutes because the coffee vending machine queue was literally longer than our national record-breaking longest ketupat. The situation didn’t help when one chap was holding a tray with a few cups to fill with coffee. Okay, so the chap was being efficient, I mean no point having so many people queuing up anyway.

Awhile later, Boon decided to queue for the coffee again while I nibble on some bread and people watch. And there standing at a corner was a domestic helper, elbows nonchalantly propped against the shopping cart. The family who brought her felt it was best that she didn’t join them at the lunch table but to stand guard over the shopping cart. Or perhaps it was the maid’s decision to stand apart from the family because she was too embarrassed to be seen in public with her thoughtless employer.

And all of a sudden a lady seated at the table behind me audibly rattled to her husband how ungrateful their child is for complaining that there’s nothing to eat at Ikea. So she’s having a tough time dealing with her pre-pubescent picky eater kid but shouldn’t family business remain as such? After much yabbering the parents abandoned their (perhaps angelically disguised bratty) kid at the table on her own and disappeared somewhere else. Maybe they went to buy her food.

Meanwhile the table on my left were seated with a family of four. One of the young kids dropped a fork and no one bothered to pick it up. Were they waiting for the fork to grow legs and walk away? Well they waited in vain because Boon picked it up when we got up to leave. And in the true spirit of our fellow countrymen, we left the cluttered table as it is. It wasn’t us mah, why should we clear?

So let’s laugh at ourselves and be socially more aware of others.

6:21 PM 2 comments hmm?

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

I see bright lights ahead of me. I also see a pair of eyes peering down at me. 45 minutes later a revelation was revealed to me. This year’s dental visit set me back by RM425. Gasp, I reluctantly surrendered RM350 and promised to pay the remainder pronto. Can you imagine what that sort of money can buy? A nice hairdo and matching sunnies perhaps. Or maybe sitting in the bank collecting crummy savings interest. Oh well, what needs fixing should be fixed.

Why the exorbitant price? I had two upper jaw x-rays, scaling and polishing, fixed a cavity, fixed my braces wiring and of course Dr. T didn’t forget to charge me for consultation fees. So much for being a regular since aged six. Oh, this is a new chap and I’ve not seen my usual dentist for years since he became successful with the opening of another branch in some upscale community. The fees there are even more costly!

Since the mother of all my current problems (i.e. cavity, sore gums and pain) is caused by me three remaining wisdom teeth, I asked how much it would cost me to have them all extracted. Oh, about RM100+ each for the upper jaws (normal extraction) and RM600+ for the bottom left jaw. The latter will require some gum slicing and tooth sawing and crunching because it is growing sideways. Trauma aside, I don’t think I can afford this.

Sigh, I blame my bunny-sized jaws with horse-sized teeth. Since 12, I have had five permanent teeth extracted to alleviate overcrowding, endured more than four years of correctional braces and suffered speech impediment while on teeth retainers. At 19, I went through a relapse of crooked teeth, had my front teeth ‘filed’ because there was insufficient space still, went on braces for a year and finally, retainers with additional wires soldered onto the back of my front teeth for extra support.

I refuse to have the wires removed for fear of a third relapse. My front teeth are ‘for display’ only because I’ve not used them for years for eating purposes. Therefore I cannot bite a shiny apple, crack crab shells, crunch on bones, etc. So much for having teeth!

2:00 PM 3 comments hmm?

Monday, October 09, 2006

3-D cut out card from McD's. Outside and inside view, cute kan? In case you're wondering, these Sanrio characters were created in 2002. The white puppy is called Cinnamoroll and nope this isn't mine. I was merely helping my little niece to fix it up. Hmm, I wonder what other cut out cards they have in MCD's.





I'm not really obsessed with Sanrio, they just happen to remind me of my childhood. And they're so darn cute. Someone please stop me!

11:51 PM 1 comments hmm?

Sunday, October 08, 2006

This is a 2006 movie adaptation of a popular Japanese video game. The premise of the movie is a town called Silent Hill, a world sort of in limbo between reality and hell. There are loads of creepy-looking creatures inhabiting this dimension, namely 3-feet tall, wailing children burnt black walking in stunted movements. (Personally I find twisted innocence like an evil baby, dolls with murderous thoughts and a clown with razor sharp teeth horrendously more horrifying compared to undying zombies in movies). I would recommend this knee-clutching, gut-wincing movie for horror lovers. Anyway, in the original video game, the town is covered in fog and snow. In the movie, it was replaced with smoke and ash instead caused by a coal mine fire which never stopped burning beneath the town. See movie screenshot.



And then see this shot. No worries if you’re not a horror fan because ‘Silent Hill’ has descended upon us in KL recently. (Replace creepy creatures with snatch thieves).



Since ASEAN adopts a non-interfering policy towards their neighbours and the president of the haze factory is too lackadaisically dim-witted to contain the problem, can someone please suggest a solution to this annual crisis? Well, I have a one. Let’s build a huge fan and blow the haze back to them haha.

10:38 AM 0 comments hmm?

Saturday, October 07, 2006

When I was a ciku-ling (young person la) during the 80s, I would pester my mom to buy me a Game & Watch by Nintendo. It was awesome! The one and only one I had was the Octopus game. The aim of the game is to retrieve gold as much as possible from a chest on the seabed while manoeuvring your way around the octopus’ tentacles. There are only three chances as evident by the three fish-bowl wearing men sitting in the boat. A very tricky and addictive game powered by a button-sized battery.



Fast forward to present time, kids these days would laugh at this no-brainer two-button device. Just look at the PS2 control device. Two joysticks and so many buttons. How do you manoeuvre your character with one hand while pressing different button combinations to shoot your enemies with the other? A character I played in a game not too long ago died even before I could figure out the buttons. Indeed this was tougher than my one day piano lesson when I was six. Sigh.

8:23 PM 10 comments hmm?

Friday, October 06, 2006

When I was a kid, ‘lantern day’ was something to look forward to. There will be moon cakes, yam, ling-kok, pomelo, fizzly firecrackers and of course lanterns. The run up to the festival day was even better. There were so much of preparations to be done.

First, we’d buy moon cakes from the supermarket. Red bean paste, lotus paste with duck yolk, mixed nuts and ping pei (snow skinned). My favourite would be the plain moon cake moulded into the shape of a fish and tied up in a pink or red plastic basket. Like a Santa sock, the little baskets can be reused to hold tiny toys or sweets.

Mom would also buy the palm-sized yams, ling-kok and pomeloes from the wet market, a five-minute walk away. The yams were my favourite. Mom would wash the yams clean, put them in a bowl and submerge the bowl in a pot containing two inches of water and steam them till they are cooked. I’d fish one out from the steaming pot and peal the outer skin away and eat the yam. The taste is slightly bland and I’ll swaddle the yam with lots of raw white sugar and worry about cavities later.

Another of my favourites is the ling-kok. Hideously black in colour with two pointy ‘horns’ facing downwards, it resembles the double-arched stick drawing birds flying over the horizon we used to draw as a kid during art class. Till date, I’m not really sure what ling-koks are but it sure is fun eating them. The outer shell is hard as a walnut shell and armed with a hammer and pliers, we’d hammer and pry the shell open. The nut within is light yellow and unfortunately I can’t remember how it tastes like.

Then there was the pomelo. Cutting open a pomelo requires some skill. My sisters and I would crowd around my papa while he slices the inch thick skin with a kitchen knife. And with the first pry, the juicy aroma will fill the air with a refreshing scent. Like a huge orange, I’d eat at least two pieces. Mom would make sure that she buys some pomelo leaves and chrysanthemum flowers from the market as well and place them in the bathroom kong (water container). The next morning, we’d have scented water to bathe with.

And the highlight for me would be lantern and firecrackers shopping at the sundry shop. Displays of lanterns made of transparent colourful paper in wire frame hang in abundance. There were birds, chickens, fishes and I’d have a tough time choosing because I was usually only allowed to buy one. There were also packets of Japanese paper lanterns in an assortment of colours. Colourful candles in boxes to buy. And firecrackers. Of course, the latter are banned now. What a shame.

That night after our family dinner, the front of the house will be lit with lanterns, we’ll play with firecrackers and eat moon cakes. Laughter, teasing, running around and happiness would permeate the air. And as the night draws to an end, we’d fold the lanterns nicely and keep them in the store to be reused next year. Ah, bliss.

12:45 PM 0 comments hmm?

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

On a dark and hazy night...

boon: Err, you still got kittybricks ah?
me: *already looking dejected*
counter girl: Uh huh.
me: *slightly cheered up*
boon: Err, what colours you have?
cg: Stock just arrived. Got all 12. Which one you want? Nah, see sample.
me: *eyes wide opened, gleaming with disbelief and staring at the yellow sample* Err, can buy all at one go ah?
cg: Can, RM3.90 each.
me: As in, can I buy one ice-cream to buy all 12?
cg: Yah. How? Which colour you want?
me: *heart missed a beat* Da, maybe I'll just take two, the pink one and uhm...
boon: Get all of it lar, complete set mah.
me: *calm down, don't scream* But then, expensive oh. Some more the other day you scold me for wasting money. Two enough la.
boon: Buy all lar dear. You want all, rite?
me: *giggle giggle giggle* Sure? Uhm, okie lor. You agree one ah. I want one ice-cream and all 12 lar!
cg: *smiles* Okay. Wait ah.



Pure luck! No queue and no shoving and get to buy all 12 sekaligus. Best kan? And I thought I'll have to buy each of them separately from McD. They are about 3 inches in height - affordable set of kitty cat kubrick collectibles, good in quality and not to mention the fabulous packaging. Ogle away...

10:05 AM 3 comments hmm?

Sunday, October 01, 2006

While having dinner just now, my ingenious mind conjured the perfect job for the enterprising retired man. Uncle popiah. Neat eh? Let’s see, popiah is well loved by the average Chinese folk (non-halal mah), the ingredients are easy to obtain and make and any ordinary Malaysian wouldn’t pass by without buying one from a sweet old man. There is the attractive low cost and easy business set up at the local pasar malam as well and flexible working hours too.

Now, what about uncle popiah’s attire? Well, nothing fancy-lah after all you can’t be wearing designer togs making popiah in our humid weather. I was thinking more of white ah-pek singlet with dark coloured Bermudas, a blue apron, slightly above ankle black socks and Japanese slippers. For hygiene purposes, uncle popiah should wear a transparent shower cap and shave his bulu ketiak on a regular basis. He will be wearing gloves too. And he will have to quit smoking if he is a smoker, quit spitting and don a surgical mask if he happens to be feeling under the weather. When his behind itches, he will not reach back and scratch with his bare hands but he will use the wooden ‘hand scratcher’.

One day, uncle popiah’s popiahs popularity spreads through his patron’s word of mouth. And then he decides that it is time to look into franchising. And before you can say ‘yeah right!’ there in the middle of trendy New York is an uncle popiah franchisee stall next to the hot dog stand. Suddenly, New Yorkers love popiahs. In fact, the whole world loves it! Speak about world domination eh?

Actually, someone should consider setting up a Ramli burger stall in New York. For starters, the comfort snack will be a hit among homesick Malaysians. Hmmm...

12:54 AM 0 comments hmm?