30 September 2009 6:47 p.m. i used to scoff at things like "atmosphere" and "feel" as reasons to watch live sporting events. who in their right mind would want to numb their butts in horrid uncomfortable chairs watching overpaid athletes hit a ball from side to side, right? to say nothing of the exorbitant ticket prices. naturally, i watched Mikhail Youzhny beat David (dah-veed, ta very much) Ferrer the terrier last night at Bukit Jalil and all i can say is, i spoke too soon. that cute salute he gave all four sides of the stadium clinched the deal too. Federer can keep his fanatics. i'm supporting Russia all the way. but maybe that's presumptuous. however, this has me less than impressed:
these dudes are running around Kuala Lumpur
L - R: Richard Gasquet (Fra), Robin Soderling (Swe), Nikolay Davydenko (Rus), Fernando Verdasco (Esp)
this picture was kindly released free for use by the organisers of the Proton Malaysian Tennis Open 2009
like i said to my aunt, couldn't they get Jendela Batik or E'Tho as one of the clothing sponsors, seeing as how CNN Worldsport and Astro and RTM, not to mention Tumasek Pewter (who are they?) were all involved?
shiny is wrong. shiny makes you look bigger than you really are, especially when it's shiny orange. do malaysians harbour a secret hatred of spaniards? when Wafa was in KL 2 years ago, i remember him being dressed in a hideous, billowing thing passing itself off as a batik shirt, also in orange.
at least Verdasco put his best manly face forward, and i admit i've never seen batik worn with such well-filled (ahem) jeans before. only Davydenko emerged unscathed. yet another point for Russian tennis players who like blue the way i do.
said aunt called me while i was watching the match too. her response when i told her where i was:
"where did you get the tickets?"
a short pause, then i said, "the ticket counter?"
apparently, they're sold out at all outlets around KL.
28 September 2009 11:16 p.m.itchy trigger finger vs bad apples
two days ago, i told my mum about a group of african people i'd seen having a picnic-gathering thing at the park. her reaction:
"huh. make sure they don't do it too often. we don't want anything to happen."
no ma, we don't. they might run out of picnic food and start hustling the ice cream vendors. next thing you know, they'll want to have nasi lemak and roti canai as if they were malaysians. it's already starting to show in the kids, who were fat little porkers huffing and puffing at their little game of football when i trotted past.
16 September 2009 3:30 p.m.we're not so different, you and i
no one i know can watch a Tarantino movie without cringing.
i spent last week in vietnam. it was the best time ever. i enjoyed being in a place where i had absolutely no grasp of the language as soon as i got over the stomach-churning nervousness. it's sad how things end just when you're getting really used to them though.
i'd love another visit and i'm gonna eat them doner kebaps as soon as i find them! hopefully it won't be as humid. rolled-up cargo pants will never be the fashion statement i intend them to be.
02 September 2009 3:05 p.m.knowing my limits
it turns out i'm unable to look for hot pictures of a 17 year old without feeling like i'm doing something wrong. he'll always be Sharkboy to me.
black is overrated
i wish you could see the morning sun filtering through the canopy of leaves and pretend to be an ancient primeval creature with me, but it would scare the joggers if we did and you always wake up too late anyway.
listen and love. or not.
derivative. dismal. catchy. anthemic. overwrought. annoying. Marilyn is that you???. doing what they do best. will be played to death if radio stations know what's good for them. king kill 33. we shall never be afraid to die.
spread it like a virus. or LiLo. ahem.
required reading for context and/or entertainment - comments on Stereogum
29 July 2009 4:04 p.m.adventures in grocery shopping: people we meet
in the vegetable section of tesco. i open a plastic bag with a flourish and proceed to peruse the imported white australian onions. these shockingly cost RM12.99 per kilo whereas the yellow dutch (?) variety are RM1.99 per kilo. maybe you can eat the australian ones raw, but i'm not going to try.
someone beside me exclaims in recognition. i turn with a half-smile on my face and find a total stranger smiling at me. shit.
"nice ah, these onions?" he says.
"i dunno, i've never tried them, innit?" i mumble. he riffles through the red onions stacked beside the white ones.
"wah, so expensive la they. local ones oso cheaper. this local one ah, probably tastes as nice right?" he holds out a red onion.
"they're imported too," i point out. "and i've never tried those either." why is he talking to me? where is his minder? is he one of the people i'm supposed to meet in the world that is so big, as my mother is so fond of saying?
"ya lah, imported wan."
all the white onions have soft spots. they will rot in days. fortunately, the dutch onions are on the far end of the aisle. i escape gratefully, but not before he gets the last word in.
"oh, you shopping for home ah!"
at the weighing counter, i see that his shopping cart is filled to the brim. i decide against asking him if he owns a restaurant or food stall and slink away as unobstrusively as i can.
later on, he lines up behind me at the cash register and beams with delight.
"wah, so fast ah you finish your shopping!"
will someone please tell me where my weirdo magnet is and how you switch it off?
how to be a real girl
it's been 10 years since i finished secondary school, and it makes me happy when i see schoolmates who've gained a boatload of weight since then, expecially around the hips. i have not.
*gloat*
(it's mostly around my middle though. haha)
uninvited visitors
strangers who show up at your door without prior warning always want to get inside your house and they always want something from you.
solar eclipses bring out the crazy people
Jehovah's Witnesses have returned to Taman Tun. they'd come around many years ago but no one was interested so i guess they had the re-strategise. they left leaflets at houses where the residents hid behind the curtains/in the kitchen, i.e. all of them. there are no asian people in the picture. there is a white family at the forefront of a whole line of believers seems to be marching cheerfully to their death, so please count me out of that party, ta very much. re:
A: follow the white man
yes, i know it's easy to mock people who earnestly believe they're doing all they can for their faith and to save their brethren, but i just don't like being told what to do and how to do it, and what difference does it make to them anyway? unless you count the pride they take in saving another soul, but pride's a sin, innit?
17 July 2009 4:17 p.m.method to the madness
researcher finds link between schizophrenia and creativity. the rest of us are just depressed.
03 July 2009 2:12 p.m.almost as good as being there
pictures from Glastonbury '09. image-heavy (duh)!
