Crossing into the Borders

I 'm always excited when I discover any new bookstore that I didn't know existed. If I was walking down a street and suddenly came across a shop with books inside, I would certainly walk in. Even so that I even walked into Salvation a few years ago (to those who don't know, like I was a few years ago, Salvation carries books on Christianity)

You can imagine my excitement when I read the news that Borders is coming to Malaysia. I even marked the opening day in my diary. What's the use of marking events if you're not going to take part right? So I went there this evening.

I didn't join in the opening ceremony of course, like Eyeris & Daphne did, but I was hoping they will have some special events throughout the day. I mean, you are a big international corporation opening your very first shop in the country, shouldn't you make a big deal out of it? So when I walked into the shop about 7pm this evening, I kind of lost a bit of the excitement. It felt like walking to any other bookstore that I accidently came across while walking down a street. And I was a bit disappointed that there was no "Opening Day Sale", not even a mere 10% .

I walked into the store at the first floor and the first thing I noticed was how white and bare the shop is. It's like walking into a hypermarket or a hospital. The first selections that you'll see is, of course, the latest releases and bestselling titles. This is where you can find your Dan Browns, latest Kay Scarpetta novel, etc. But I was more attracted to the ones with special offers.

Special Offers Year Round
1. 3 for 2
Borders offer selected titles where you can buy 2 and get the third one free. There are some interesting titles but they are either ones that I don't want to own or ones that I already have. Available at children's section as well.

2. Bargain Books
They consists of some obscure titles mostly informational. I saw the whole Calvin & Hobbes range selling about RM19-90 each, even the big ones. But I grew out of Calvin & Hobbes, so no interest there. I saw some LIFE books which I usually love but the subjects doesn't interests me. Bargain books at the children's section at quite good. At the end, I manage to get Now Showing: Unforgettable Moments From the Movies and The Handy History Answer Book for RM19-90 each .

It was mentioned that this section is updated every week so... to go or not to go....

3. Borders Best
This is similar to Kino's offer. You'll get 20% discount for selected titles with any other purchase. The ones on offer now didn't interest me either except for Revenge of the Sith novelization. But it's in HC and I want to watch the movie first.

Layout
Science Fiction = Fantasy???
I don't understand why they want to classify books about dragons, wizards, dwarves, fairies or magic under Science Fiction. Enough said.

Modern Lit + Classic Lit = Fiction
I never realized that putting this two categories together could be quite efficient. For example, if you go to Kino you will find Steinbeck's books under 'Literature' but if you go to Times they will be under 'Fiction'. So what the heck, let's put them all together.

Children's Book by Age
Is quite effiecient too but I didn't check whether they arrange the books correctly or not.

General
The whole place is very spacious. It kind of gives you the sense that there are not so many books after all. I don't know if they're planning to add anything else or if this is it.

Selection
I'm not about to comment on the selections of the whole damn store. I read a lot but I'm not that well versed in what's good and what's not. Instead I will just measure the variety of selection based on the books that I was looking for.
1. Fyodor Dostoevsky
They have a lot of his books. I never knew that he wrote so many short stories as well.

2. Clive Barker
Not bad but doesn't have all of his works. I was hoping I can get the latest one Abarat: Days of Magic, Night of War. No Luck. Actually the whole Horror section is dissapointing, They only have about three shelves for Horror.

3. Gregory Maguire
All of his books are about the other side of a fairy tale. I've read all of them except one, Mirror Mirror, about the wicked queen in Snow White. Good news, Borders have all of his books. They even have a special edition of Wicked with photos of the Broadway musical by the same name. Oh, his books are placed under 'Science Fiction'.

4. For Better or For Worse
They have a few. I think it was about 5% of the range. I don't care, Times has more of this series and I can get 10% too.

5. Children's section
Very good, this section took up a lot of space. A lot of titles for teenagers but according to Daphne they don't have Joan Aiken books. I also noticed they don't have the latest Artemis Fowl book. Their 'latest' is The Artemis Fowl Case Files, which came out a year ago. And the picture books are a bit lacking.

6. Parenting
Not that impressive. Most of the books are about taking care of babies, babies' learning process etc. If your children are above 6, you won't find that many books that could help you.

7. Entertainment
Very good. They have a lot of books about bands, artists, songbooks and films but not much about TV. I saw a lot of books on U2, more than what I can find at other bookstores. No book about CSI.

8. Others
Other sections like business, art etc didn't impress me. I don't know if it's the way they arrange everything or there just wasn't that many books. I feel that Kino has more titles.

So that's 4 and 4 . A lot of room for improvements.

Ambiance
Hypermarket, soulless, sanitized, not cozy, cold and uninviting are words that came to my mind. They didn't even bother with any creative decor. Even the sofas looks uncomfortable. I saw some quotes here and there but I almost missed them. And they were so obscure that they didn't effect me in any way.

They hold to the principle of allowing customers to browse freely so be assured that you won't find any plastic foil between your fingers and the pages inside. It is a noble notion but I feel it is unsuitable for Malaysian market. The Malaysian general public usually treat bookstores like a library. They go there to read with no intention of buying, which is fine. But when they don't practice caution while handling the book it becomes another story altogether. I remember the time when Kino practice 'open browsing' once but then... well just look at Kino now. Every single book is wrapped, not even one copy escaped that clingy plastic thingy.

Conclusion
In gist, I hope that this is not it. I imagine that Berjaya was so pressed with the opening day dateline that they just go with what they have. I hope that they have some surprises yet unveiled. Borders won't be a regular visit but I do want to see if they do update their bargain books every week. Maybe I'll go again someday and see if it's worth it.

Related Blogs
1. Eyeris's On the Borders of Popular Soullessness
(For the record, I just love this title. It is a nice and concised way to describe the latest edition in the book retailing industry of Malaysia. Why can't I come up with titles like that ) and another post
2. An Explanation for the Borders Hatred
3. Daphne's Borders
4. Kyl's If I Could Marry Borders I Totally Would

Did you post about Borders as well? Drop me a line and I'll gladly add a link to you.

Well doggone it!

Having Nadia sent home last week kind of ended Kampung Gal's career as a psychic. This is what I predicted before. Just scroll all the way down to get to the predictions.

But I wasn't surprised that she was the one with the lowest vote. In fact I kind of expected it. I wanted to blog about it before the result show to prove that I still have the knack for predicting but man I was so not in the mood to blog lately.

I did enjoy her performance by the way. But after I watched the rundown of all the performances at the end of the concert it was obvious that she was the least outstanding among them. It doesn't help that she was the first to perform either. First to go, first to forget right?

I agree with Simon on this one, she made a bad song choice. No one knew it, not even Randy, it was slow, uninteresting and so was not able to make her shine among the many bright stars among her. I guess she's just too 'artsy-fartsy' for the general audience. ('Artsy-fartsy' was the word she used to describe her taste in music)

But boy did I get a scare when Bo was in the bottom 2 with Nadia. But sometimes you just got to be put down to realize that you are as vulnerable as anyone else. Remember how cocky Fantasia was at the beginning of American Idol 3? A few times at the bottom 3 sure quiets down that big mouth of hers. I hope this will be a wake-up call for Bo. He must work hard to stay at the top, this is no time to slack off. I want Bo in the finals!

Okay, it's time to salvage what's left of Kampung Gal's psychic career and make another prediction.
1) Bo, Constantine, Vonzell and Keri will be in the final 4
2) Even though I love Bo, it is Constantine who will become the next American Idol
3) Scott is the next to go

Let's see where this will take us.

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Additional thoughts (21 April 2005, 12:36am)

Just watched this week's show, a great one I must say.

I'm still sticking to my predictions. Just want to add one more with regards to Tipah's question.

Before tonight I was thinking Bo and Constantine will be in the final two. But after some research and analysis which involved recalling past performances, each contestant's personality, commercial value and marketibility, I think Constantine and Vonzell will be voted by the American public all the way to the top two. So there's my answer Tipah and I still think Constantine is going to win.

After Scott leaves tonight, I think it's going to be more difficult to predict the next one to go. They're all very good in their own way and I like them all, even Anthony with the pale squeeky clean image that he has. Cannot deny that he does have a good voice. The competition is getting tougher every week. I think this is the best season for American Idol.

You do care!

Wow! Can't help but feel awed by all the feedbacks that I got from my last post. Someone do care! To all... let me see... 1... 2... 3... 9 of you who bothered to entertain my whims I'm really grateful.

At the beginning it was pretty even between resigning and not resigning. But after awhile the scale tipped towards not resigning. I thought long and hard about this and I have made my decision.

I may sound desperate and agitated in my last post but after some time I find that I don't have any reason to feel that way. I think it was the fact that I was really vying for the job at Company ABC and I was disappointed when I didn't make the cut. I think it was just not meant to be. A better phrase to express this is that "My rezeki is just not with that place". So fine, I'll accept that.

The company that I'm currently working in is actually not that bad that I just have to leave it right away. It does have its minor hiccups here and there (and everywhere) but I think it's expected when you're working with a small business. There are some things that I find irritating especially when I've done all I can to make a certain project successful but it will always get stuck when a certain action from my boss is needed. Well at least he can't blame me if a project was not up to his expectations. Fine.

This boss of mine also owns other businesses which he shared with his many brothers. Sometimes these other businesses will criss-cross even though they are entirely unrelated. I remember once when he told all his staff to not mention the company's name when picking up the phone, which we still do until now actually. I don't understand why and I don't want to understand why. As long as he's paying my salary on time and put the money in my EPF, I guess it's fine.

Another part of criss-crossing his businesses is going on in another aspect. You see, now I have to do some admin stuff for his other companies as well like ageing reports, balance sheet, profit & loss etc. It started with minor things that I can finish in about 30 minutes. But today all of a sudden I was bidden to go to his brother's office. When I got there his brother passed me this 1/2 inch-thick report printed on those A3-sized computer paper filled with company names. My task is to type all those company names into Excel. After two hours I didn't even finish half of it and I'm a pretty fast typer. So tomorrow I have to go there again until I completed everything. But I think I can finish it by tomorrow. Fine.

Okay I must admit. I am a bit free in between the many tasks that form my job description. But I just can't help but get this irritating vibe running through the very fiber of my being everytime I have to spend more than an hour in front of the PC typing (apart from blogging that is). This is the reason why I left the bank goddammit! It was why I left all the insurance coverage, medical benefits, dental benefits, among many others, to join this company who only gives the very minimum of employee benefits - I'm sick and tired of typing data!

But I guess my love for the things that I deal with in this company is like that gulp of water that cures the hiccups. I was really hoping that this company could be my stepping stone into a long and fruitful career in the book industry. After working here for two years and acquiring a degree, I thought it's time to step into bigger things. And then this new company comes along which could have been my big break but alas it wasn't.

I wish they would just tell me what's wrong. I wish they would just tell me...

I'm sorry, you're not successful

instead of,

We've put your application under KIV

Did I dress wrongly? Did I smell bad? Did I say something so appaling that I don't deserve another minute of their time? They didn't even give me a second chance.

Oh well, like I said earlier,

Rezeki saya bukan di sini

Back to the classifieds!

In the meantime I'll just stick around and see what other hiccups I will get.

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To resign or not to resign

That is the question that's been bugging me until I can't sleep last night. You see, I found out I have to give 3 months notice of resignation instead of one.

This is my story.

Two of you might know that I'm currently looking for other employments. I've sent out my resumes to all the companies that I'm interested in and signed up at the various website with job listings. I was called for a few interviews and one of those was with Company ABC about a month ago. What interests me about this company is that it's an international corp just beginning to tap into the Malaysian market. You know what new companies mean right? Lots of room to grow...

I felt that interview went quite well. I answered their ad for position A but she said I was a bit over-qualified for that one and the salary range is not suitable for me. But she still called me up to see if I'm suitable for position B (a better one). At the end of it she told me that she will call me tomorrow. But she didn't so I called her up the day after that. She told me that the quota for position B has been filled so my application has to be put under KIV. *sigh* Never mind. Company ABC is planning to open another branch within this year and four more in the next three years which I believe because the news has been splattered all over the newspapers. So I thought I still have a chance if not for this branch maybe for the next.

Last week, I saw a vacancy ad for Company ABC in the paper asking for the position that I was interviewed for, Position B for the same branch. What the hell? How come she didn't call me?

So I e-mailed her that night asking if I'm still under consideration. Till now I received no reply from her. Nothing left to do but call her up which I did but she was not around. I actually have her hand-phone no but I'm a bit reluctant to use it. I don't want to seem so desperate and eager (even though I am) that would eventually cause me to be blacklisted in her book. But I'm determined. If I don't get to speak to her soon I WILL certainly use this valuable information to get what I want. Please let me speak to her soon... I really don't want to call her on her handphone.

Another thing that worried me is that I accidently 'lied' on my application form. You see, I was so eager to go to all these interviews that I didn't bother to check my terms of employment. I assumed that I have to give one month notice. I must have thought I was still a clerk. Well, it figures since I'm drawing a clerk's salary.

That's one setback, telling them that I can join them in one month when I actually they have to wait 3 bloody months. I hope she can just forget about this minor little detail because... drum rolls please...
I'm exactly the kind of person she's looking for, I'm just perfect for this company, I have the experience, I have the passion, I have great communication skills, I have a great personality, I am a wonderful person and we had quite a nice chat during the interview (unless she is very good in pretending to enjoy the conversation).

Ok. Let's assume that she's fine with this little hiccup and still consider me as a good candidate, what happens if I DO get this job. I get the feeling that they would want me to join them right away.
"But I have to give three months notice."
"Is there no other way you can get off earlier?"
"No, I don't think so."
"Then, we have no choice. We need someone fast. We have to give this position to another candidate."
NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

So now I'm thinking, should I just place my resignation and hope they will get back to me in three months time? If they do call me up for a second interview will I be successful?

I'm pretty confident that I could because, come on, they need a lot of people and who better to work for them than me! They must take me.

Worst scenario - it is my last day of working here and I still don't have a job. I don't mind working at something else while waiting for Company ABC to become desperate enough to finally want me to work for them. But working as what? Will I be able to even secure another job? Even a measly one?

I've asked 4 of my friends about this
2 said just resign but must be ready to take the risk.
1 said don't resign because it's difficult to find another good-paying job.
1 still hasn't replied my e-mail.

What do you think ? To resign or not to resign?

It's a sign!

Prince Charles postponed his wedding to Saturday because he has to attend the Pope's funeral on Friday (the original wedding date).
Read the news here.

What a reason to postpone your wedding ha? The highest authority in the Catholic constitution just died.

It seems like everything is against this union . They (whoever were protesting) said that a Catholic royalty can never marry a divorced woman, or a foreigner, she will never be a princess, he will never be king, the mother won't come to the wedding, blablablayadayadayada. And suddenly six days before the wedding the Pope had to die. It's a sign!

I find this whole wedding thing very funny.

Don't you remember way back when the kings and queens of old were the actual ruler of a country? Anything they say goes. If not... "OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!!!!"

They can conquer other continents, initiate explorations, marry whoever they want, not marry at all, marry his brother's wife, have loads of concubines, sacrifice the wife of his beloved 'panglima' to bless a ship, execute those that don't follow your religion, basically anything under the sun just because they are born into the position of power.

Now, they are just symbols and representations of what it used to be, the way we were. But it seems we don't really want them as they were during those times. So thanks to political development they are now 'rulers' under the whims and fancies of the parliament and the constitution.

Mr Blair's spokesman said Downing Street had not put pressure on Charles to postpone his wedding, noting that its planners were "very well aware of the significance" of the Pope's funeral.
"The decision was one for them and they alone to reach. The prime minister is now very glad he is able to go to both events," the spokesman said.

The fact that the spokesman has to mention this at all is the funniest part of the article. Did they really expect that if the Prince continued with his original plans, the PM can put pressure on them to change it? Since when does wedding planning comes under the jurisdiction of the parliament?

My God! Why the hell did I spent the last hour griping about this? Whether they marry on Friday or Saturday or April Fool's Day, it won't effect me. But the article has to mention that if they marry on Friday, Blair won't be able to attend the wedding. Come on! Even the mother of the groom RSVP that she won't attend the wedding months before. I think the Prince can take it if the 'Bendahara' cannot make it.

Anyway, marriage should be an easy thing to a clerk, a technician, a CEO, a minister or a prince. Why should we hear all this noise just because the bride is a divorcee. Will we hear the same amount of noise if the bride is a virgin? Because I think that's what it all comes down to, the purity of the bride. It doesn't matter what the groom has been doing all his life, if the bride is good than the marriage is good. If the marriage falls apart, it must be the wife's fault. If you fall in love with a divorced woman, you're in for a big trouble.

So what! Do you know that the Prophet Mohammad SAW married a divorced older woman who was also his boss. Yeah, he married the woman that would be any parent's worst nightmare. But yet their marriage is THE marriage that anyone would wish they have. What sweet irony.

I've heard a theory that those who are destined to be together tend to look like each other. Just look at them. They're soul-mates, don't you think?

Miss me?

Man, this must be the most attention-grabbing, sympathy-begging title I have ever used and will bever use again.

It's been a long time since my last long 'intelligent' post and I have a good reason. Three very good reasons actually.


Yep! They are the Lord of the Rings Trilogy Special Extended DVD Edition. My babies...

I bought them last December, some sort of a birthday present for me. But surprise, surprise the portable DVD player that I have cannot play Region 1 DVDs.


I found out from the Internet that you can actually unlock your players to play other region DVDs. But of course there's no key available for a local made player. So now what? Don't tell me that I have to buy another DVD player?

One day, lightning struck my modem and network card. A technician from TMnet came and changed the modem . But I have to change the network card myself . And this has to happen after KL PC Fair is over, yeah right .

So I went to the next best place, Plaza Imbi. The network card was just RM25 so might as well get a CD-RW drive too.
"You got a CD-RW tak?"
"You get this one la. Combo CD drive. Can write CD and play DVD too."
"Can play all DVD or not? You know la DVDs have Region I la, Region 3 la, Region XYZ la."
"This one can play all DVD one."
"How much?"
"RM169 only."
"Aiya! No discount ke? Not brand name some more"
"Discount already. Normal price is RM199."
"Ala... give more discount la. I bought network card also what."
"Cannot. Special price already. And this one is special also. You can chose 3 colors for the cover."
And he showed me the extra two covers, black and silver.
"Wah! Now CD-Rom also like handphone ah? Can change cover. I don't need this one lar. You take this and give me RM10 discount la."
"He he he"

Well the exchange was actually just a formality. When he mentioned that this thing can play DVD as well, my head was reeling with the possibility that I will finally get the chance to watch my beloved babies. So, I bought the whole thing, extra changeable covers and all.

What do you think? Is RM169 for a brandless DVD-ROM CD-RW combo too much? I didn't even survey the area for a better deal. I thought that since I bought the card from him I might as well buy the drive too.

I just can't wait to get back and try out my new toy. But I didn't keep my hopes up since I might be dissapointed again. The first thing I did after I booted my PC was try out the network card la.

Okay done! Broadband up and running. Time to try out the thing!

I took out The Return of the King and popped the first CD I got my hand on into the drive, it was one of the appendices. A window came up asking to install InterActual Player and so I did. That took about less than a minute. By then another window popped up and I finally saw a 'Play' button and clicked on it.

What's this? An error message?

I knew it was too good to be true. So I just accepted the fact that I still can't watch the extended version of The Return of the King yet and get on with my boring life.

After a while I remembered that in addition to a disc that contains the software to burn CDs, there was also another disc. I looked it over and thought, "What the hell. Just give it a try."

The disc installed PowerDVD. And I gave the play button a click and crossed my fingers.


And what do you know, I saw the most wonderful sight I have ever seen.

I saw the menu.

This picture is not representative. I didn't actually jump up and down but I was very excited.

So it goes that I slept at 2am that night watching the most anticipated DVD of my life so far, the extended version of The Return of the King. I knew that I can't take sitting in front of my PC any longer but I just have to try out the appendices. I think I survived the first documentary only, when I thought, "Let's save it for another day okay?" Okey dokey!

So for the past week, I spent every night in front of my PC playing with my new toy except for Wednesday when I was involved in a TV-show marathon from 8pm to 12:30am watching The Amazing Race, CSI, Friends and American Idol.

After three nights, I managed to watch The Return of the King and 4 of the appendices. And I'm still not done. I just watched a few of the documentaries. I didn't even touch the special effects section, the one about WETA or the music. If I chose the 'Play All' option, it would take me 2 sometimes 3 hours to get to the end. Some feat ha. And I thought watching the trilogy back to back under the stars was such an achievement.

Okay then. I guess this would be the one and only long 'intelligent' post for this week and the next. It's already 11:50pm now and I haven't started on the next appendices disc. On second thought I never even tried the CD burning feature of the new drive! On top of it all I just bought Sepet, School of Rock, Saving Private Ryan, Wuthering Heights and The Great Gatsby on VCD. Forgive me, the CDs are going for 2 at RM16.90 awright! (Except for Sepet) I cannot resist.

In the meantime, you can miss me all you want.


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Easy answer

The issue of female-led prayers has been flooding my inbox these past few days. Everybody was alarmed and flabber-gasted by this woman's actions. But yet I was not.

Female-Led Prayers:A Step Forward for Women?

As soon as I read these words in my inbox (and I read it twice since two of my friends forwarded the e-mail to me) the first word that popped in my head was a passionate

and Sister Yasmin Mogahed agreed though not so candidly of course.

This was a question from a 'Sarah' to Sister Yasmin Mogahed, a member of Ask About Islam Editorial Staff. Her respond is very deep, intelligent and well-thought of, and I agree to everything she said.

If someone were to pose me the same question my answer would just simply be because it is the definite rule in the Quran and Hadith that a man should always lead a prayer. Only if no able-bodied man is available can a woman take his place.

Yes, it is a very literal answer and not as nice as what Sister Yasmin wrote. A Form 3 student could have given an answer like that in a PMR paper. If we cannot follow simple rules and guidelines that has been written and followed without contest for thousands of years than I don't think it is a 'step forward'.

In all my short life and limited knowledge of my religion, I have never found anything so absurd or illogical in any aspect about Islam. It's beautiful, perfect and logical just like what Ustaz Ridhuan Tee once said.

There's always a reason behind everything. Here are some examples.
Warning: These are my own thoughts and understanding. Please don't quote or take it at face value. Form your own opinion ok?

Why can't we eat pork?
Pigs are still God's creatures. We can eat other living beings why not the pig. I've heard it's much tastier and juicier than the chicken so why are we Muslims held from this simple pleasure?
My thoughts: Have you seen how pigs live? What they eat? Do you know how many viruses that pigs carry? I'd rather live to eat chickens and cows thank you very much.

How come Muslim men can have four wives?
My thoughts: It is written in the Quran that one day the number of women will be more than the number of men. Women, whose basic nature is weak must be taken care of. If one man can only take one woman, what will happen to the rest of them?

Why should men be the ideal leader in everything?
Men are the preferred choice to be leaders of families, communities, countries etc. What about the women? Men are exposed to the same threats, temptations as women so why should they get the priority?
My thoughts: This I learned when I was in school. As women's basic nature is emotional, men are rational beings. And I do believe this. Women tend to think with their hearts. Important decisions cannot be made when feelings are in the way.

So woman are weak, emotional, dependant and cannot hold important posts. So what are they worth in the eyes of Islam?
My thoughts: Of all the things that men can do, there's one thing that they cannot do no matter how hard they try and how many surgeries they went through - they cannot bear a child in their body. You might think, "So women are just child- making machines, is that it?" Well, yeah if you can see only up to the end of your nose.

Do you know how hard it is to push a new life into this world? Ok I don't know either. But it is said that a woman in labor has her life pulled halfway out of her body. The odds are 50:50 in that labor room.

It is also the fundamental duty of a Muslim to worship God with every single breath and every single cell that they're made off. So, what's nobler than bringing another worshipper into this world?

And when the child is here, the mother is the one who feeds them with nourishment that comes from their own body. Then the mother and child will form a bond like nothing else in this world.

Mothers are held very highly in Muslim culture. They are given the top three places of the one you should revere to, while the father takes fourth place. Heaven resides at the soles of their feet. Just one snide remark that stabbed their hearts is enough to condemn you. So who has the power now?

Even though I see myself as a strong independant woman, I am not a feminist. Women can achieve anything and everything but they must be wise in choosing their lives path. I believe that the idea that women can do everything that men can do is shallow and wrong, which is the strongest argument of Sister Yasmin.

Why should we measure ourselves according to men's standards? They are not the highest being and doesn't hold the highest authority in this world. God is. So we should judge ourselves in God's view, not anyone else on this earth.

Hey! what a way to celebrate April Fool ha. Just post a serious blog.
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Current update - 30/3/05

Why do I do this?

Read: Blood Canticle by Anne Rice, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, The Good Earth by Pearl s. Buck, The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton, Tales of a Chinese Grandmother by Frances Carpenter,
Reading: Books of Blood by Clive Barker, The Meaning of Everything by Simon Winchester, The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke
CD: none
Favorite song: Mr. Brightside by The Killers
Playing: none (I'm done with Emperor. Most probably will continue with FF7 but still don't have the mood for it yet)
Watching: The Apprentice 2, Grounded for Life, Frasier, CSI, American Idol 4, The Amazing Race 7

*No. of times asked if I have a boyfriend: 2
*No. of times asked when I will get married: 9
*No. of times asked when I will have kids: 1
Note: * Since I started this blog of course. I've been getting these questions lots of times before but you can't honestly believe I would count them, right? I just thought of this lately. It's interesting to know the average number of times a single girl at a marriageable age get that million dollar question. I hope other single bloggers would do the same. Maybe we can write a thesis on it! I also change "ppl" to "times" since one person can ask all three questions.

Other news: The shop I was working in was closed down. Now I'm posted to the head office which is way further than my old place was. *sigh* I need a new job.

Kampung Gal enquires

I've been using MP3rocks.com but the connection is not very good lately. I just can't seem to download songs these past month. I don't know why.

So I would be very grateful if someone can recommend a very good site to download MP3. I don't mind paying.

And while you're at it, know any sites that I can download music video too? and movies maybe?

A mystery

It was one of those hot and lazy Sunday. It was also the first Sunday I'm at home for quite some time. Before this there was always other places to be and weddings to go to. My room has turned into quite a mess with god-knows-what stuff strewn all over my table and books stacked up on the floor. So I decided to spend the afternoon trying to make my room as respectable as I possibly can.

I was on the floor trying to figure out which book should be kept in a box and which one should remain outside, a very fickle exercise, when I looked up at my window.

Through the panes, I can see a woman but only the back of her head. Her hair was long but not taken care of. It was all tangled and puffy like she hadn't seen a comb for quite some time.

She was slowly but swiftly sweeping the sidewalk. She was swinging the broom back and forth, already in her comfortable rhythm and it puzzled me. She's no one I know. Can she be a new maid? I'm sure she's not a neighbour. What is she doing sweeping my sidewalk?

Suddenly she stopped and turned to look at me. I saw that she has this haggard but serene look as if there's nothing wrong with what she was doing. But I know that something doesn't fit. She doesn't belong here. She's not suppose to do that here at my house.

I went to my mother. She was leaning against my car at the front of the house, probably trying to catch some cool breeze while enjoying some quiet time by herself.
I asked her, "Mak, who's that woman?"
"What woman?"
"That woman who's sweeping our sidewalk."
"Where? That woman? I don't know. Let's ask her."

My mum called her and she walked towards us without a doubt or question on her face. All she has was the same haggard but serene look that she gave me earlier. It was like she expected to be called over.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" My mum asked her.

She didn't say anything but her expression changed to one of sadness. Slowly she lifted her hand and touched the back of her neck.

"Why? Anything wrong with your neck?" My mum asked her again.

Again, she didn't say a word, she just turned around.

In such close proximity, we can see what it was that's bothering her. Right at the base of her neck, among those thick messed-up hair, a knife was embedded right up to the hilt.

We were frozen to the spot. We didn't know what to do except watch her as she stood there, one hand drawing apart her hair so as to give us a full unobstructed view to the cause of her sorrow.

Seconds past but it felt like hours to me. The woman was still standing there, her back to us. The way she just stood there, oblivious to the fact that she was scaring the hell out of us, invited this feeling in me. It seemed that she was asking for help.

Like a dream I saw my mother's hand moving closer and closer to the hilt of the knife. Oh my God! Is she going to take it out! I can't look!

I would rather see the darkness behind my eyelid than witness what was happening in front of me.

When I opened my eyes I saw a familiar sight. I saw a towel rack with my towel slung clumsily on it... and my computer... and my bedroom door! Thank God it was a dream!

But knowing it was a dream didn't stop me from reciting a few verses, anything at all that I can remember from the top of my head, to slow down my racing heart.

This was probably the scariest dream that I got involving an unexplained being. My nightmares usually consists of being chased by a meat-eating animal, dunked in a pool full of meat-eating creatures or getting bit by a snake

There's a theory that you would most likely dream about the last thing that crossed your mind before sleep takes over your consciousness. So I thought real hard what could I've been thinking to induce such a frightful dream. I did wash my feet (I think) and I might not have said the doa sebelum tidur (prayer before sleeping) Ahh... it must have been the double dosage of Conan Doyle's supernatural tales and Barker's Books of Blood.

Yeah I brought these two books to bed with me that night. Doyle's stories were not that scary however. They may have been back in the 19th century but for a 21st century reader, they're nothing new. But I can't say the same about Barker, the master of gruesome horror.

I only read the first story to see if it's any good. It's the story from the book title, which is also used to set up the rest of the stories proceeding it. Judging from my unconscious reaction I guess I got what I was looking for.

Does this stop me from taking this book to bed? Heck no! But I do keep Amy Tan and World of Fairy Tales by my bed. Just in case.

A review on Books of Blood
http://www.biblioblog.com/archives/002358.html

The Idols Rundown

I found out recently that one way to get a surge of visitors to your blog is to post about a tv show. My visitor counter shoot up more than the normal rate (of about 20 per day) when I posted about The Amazing Race 6 finale and again after I talked about Rob and Amber from TAR7 yesterday.


The highest spike was when I talked about TAR6 and the one at the far right was for yesterday's post. [Courtesy of StatCounter]

I'm reluctant to admit it but it sure felt good seeing the graph spiked above 100 (Hey! that's good enough for me awright!). So what else can I do but keep talking about tv shows.

And tonight I want to talk about the other tv show I've been watching - American Idol.

I like the new format where they straight away select 24 wannabes to showcase to the public audience for them to vote. It sure saves the audience from watching painful mediocre performances and wasting their phone credits on the ones that may have look good on TV but just a pain to the ears. And just after three weeks we are served with the final 12.

But wait, what's this? Someone's backing out? Damn! He's one of my favorites too. What a loss. But he's quickly replaced by the next best thing, Nikko Smith. Read the whole story here.

I found out a week ago that Nikko is the son of Ozzie Smith, a baseball legend. My twisted mind started reeling and you know what came out? Here's what came out.

Kampung Gal's crazy conspiracy theory:
What if someone casually 'asked' Mario to leave. Mario, realizing that he can never compete with Bo and so cannot be the next American Idol, finds this request more profitable. Citing 'personal reasons' he told the producers that he's qutting the competition. The producers were dumbstruck. They cannot believe that someone would want to give up the chance to be seen by 60 million ppl worlwide and be in a flimsy Ford commercial every week. What can they do? They must have 12 contestants in the finals. If they don't, they have to fill up the extra 3 minutes with a longer version of a flimsy Ford commercial! NOOO!!!!!

So they flip over the rule book looking for solutions and yes! They found it.

Rule 3245 (xxiv) : Forfeiture
In the impossible case of a contestant unwilling to continue with the competition, an eliminated contestant with the highest amount of votes on the day he/she was eliminated will be eligible for the final round. Additional rule for Season 4: The eligibility depends on the gender of the quitting contestant i.e. a male if a male contestant quits and subsequently a female if a female contestants quits.
See also: -
Rule 56 (xxxvi): Gender Equality
Rule 197 (xiv) : Voting methods
Rule 215 (mcmv) : Counting the votes
Rule 848 (i) : Rules of elimination

And what do you know Nikko Smith, son of baseball Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith, fits the bill.
Welcome back Nikko!

My theory is strengthen by the fact that even his family was shocked by his decision. They themselves couldn't understand what the 'personal reasons related to the family' were.

Disclaimer: The so-called 'Rules' are a product of Kampung Gal's wild imagination. She hasn't seen the book before and not even sure it existed. It was created just to keep the drama rolling.
---------End of crazy theory---------

But I don't think he will get far and even daddy can do anything to get him back on this time around. However, he still has the various engagements to look forward to, the special appearances, the concerts, the possible record deal. Oh well.

Stupid Mario! Why did you have to back out now? You've been through so much!

So now that Lindsey's out too (no tears from me), we're left with:
Mikalah (Streisand look-a-like and sound-a-like)
Nadia (the femme-bomb!)
Carrie (the blonde country farmgirl)
Jessica (the other blonde)
Vonzell (I don't know how to label her)
Constantine (the very tall rocker)
Nikko (the boy Paula got a big crush on)
Bo (the experienced rocker)
Anwar (the sweet music teacher who could be Paula Abdul's husband)
Anthony (the sweetest whitest boy you'll ever see in the show)
and Scott (the snuggly-wuggly teddy bear)

Kampung Gal predicts:
1) Mikalah will go out tomorrow (even though I adore her)
2) Bo, Anwar, Nadia, Constantine are posssible idol materials and will be in the final 4.

But....

Go Bo Bice!


PS: Who thinks that Paula should just shut up and let Simon talk? Before this I thought it was cute but tonight she was just obnoxious!
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Perils of men Part II

Okay. I'm ready to post the next instalment of this subject. Read the first part here.

Let's continue the series with Abang Ali. It doesn't really involve any vengeful act but it does make a funny addition to this sombre post.

Getting extra help

Like I mentioned before, Abang Ali has a 'gift' and one day a girl came up to him. She has a crush on this guy but she's too shy to make the first move so she asked for Abang Ali's help. Now Abang Ali is a good guy and he does not use his gifts carelessly but he did help this girl. I don't know what he did exactly but I'm thinking somewhere along the line of making her more noticable and desirable in the guy's eyes. It worked and the girl and guy hooked up.

One fine day, the girl came back to Abang Ali asking for his favors again. It seems that the effect is wearing off and the guy is not devoted to her like he used to. But Abang Ali refused her immediately. The girl didn't give up and pursued him relentlessly, calling him day and night asking him to help her again.

Then one day Abang Ali, not taking it anymore, said to her,
"Saya tau apa yg kamu buat kat rumah laki tu dari 8 pagi sampai 8 malam!"
[I know what you did in that man's house from 8 am to 8pm!]

The girl, shocked with what he said, immediately stopped hounding him.


Ok, if you still don't get it here's what happened. The girl had pre-marital sex with this guy. Abang Ali is known to use the holy words of the Quran so of course the effects got cancelled lor. She knew that Abang Ali knew what she did but I guess she didn't expect him to know the exact time and place of the offense.

That was one good story. I will never forget this and I will tell it to anyone I know and that's why I want to share it with you. Don't expect to get any 'extra' help without doing your part of the bargain ya!

This next story I'm sorry to say hit too close to home. My sister's home to be exact.

Striking unlawful vengeance

My brother-in-law worked at a pharmaceutical company for a few years until a friend asked him to join in a business venture. This was about 12 yrs ago. My BIL agreed and he packed his whole family (my sister and son) to Kelantan. He seems to be doing well and they stayed there for a couple of years.

I guess the business didn't do well and his family moved back to KL and rented the house owned by my parents.

A few years passed and now they have three kids. Suddenly my BIL just can't hold a secure employment anymore. Everything was just not right for him. Until one he didn't work at all. Money becomes tight and he even had to sell his car. My sister stopped working when she got married and so didn't bring in any steady income. But she makes it up with whatever limited skills she has. She did anything and everything like babysitting and sewing just to pull her family through, everyday praying that her husband will have enough sense to start taking responsibility.

It's very hard to raise three kids with no steady income. And I think my parents did help by not demanding the rent and most probably gave them money sometimes. They can't let their grandkids starve for God's sakes! Please take note that I'm not mentioning my BIL's family since their 'presence' were not felt during this period. Just leave it at that.

This goes on for a few years and I can only imagine the weight that my sister (and my parents) had to bear seeing her family like this.

One day, another friend of my BIL came over for a visit bringing someone along with him and they spent the night there. The next day this friend of my BIL's friend came up to my BIL and my sister and said, "There's something wrong with this house". After getting my BIL's permission, he scouted the area and detected that there's something foreign buried in the front lawn and something is smeared all over the pole of the front porch. My sister found out later that one of the materials used was dog's pee. Ugh!


Anyway, the guy managed to clean up everything. Just a few months after that my BIL got hold of a good employment. But then there's the question of who was inconsiderate enough to do such a thing to him and his family.

The answer came pretty easy actually. Because my sister told me that she remembered some time back the driver of my BIL's ex-business partner turned up at their gate. Since it's rude to turn guests away, he was welcomed and he end up spending the night there. He must have did all the horrible deeds, burying the thing and smearing the pole with dog pee, sometime during the night. Must have been his idea of a great gift for the host ha? I guess he acted under the order of his boss but maybe his balls weren't big enough to say no.

These foul things were probably put there to slam shut the pintu rezeki and killed all the prosperity that the family might have. That's why my BIL just can't seem to hold a job. Must have been his ex-partner's way to get back at my BIL for leaving the business. I can't stand this kind of ppl.
"Kalau tak puas hati cakap depan-depan la!" [If something's bothering you, talk face-to-face la!]
Don't be such a coward and send your driver to do the dirty job for you asshole!

I've seen the shows on TV and living in a Malay housing area, I've heard the stories too. But it had never crossed my mind that something like this would happen to a member of my own family. Makes you think what kind of life you'll be having with all these negativity around you.

But I'm not a person who's easily scared. I don't read horror just to close it before it ends. I know there's a risk for a girl to travel anywhere alone but it doesn't stop me from doing anything or going anywhere I like. But I do practice caution and thank God until today I've never had my bag snatched or worst, get killed. Unless, I was killed and this blog is haunted...


Okay that was a bad joke.

But how do you protect yourself against something that you cannot see?
"What can men do against such reckless hate?"

Returning the favor is one good option but then you will just be as bad as them.
"Don't play with pigs. You'll get dirty and they're gonna love it."

I just can't find any definite answer for this question. So for now, the least I can do is pray to God that my family and I are protected against the dark hearts of malicious human beings and the dangerous things that they are capable of.

I can only pray and pray I do.

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Finally! Someone figured it out!

After seven seasons of The Amazing Race, someone finally discovered that not doing something might be the right thing to do after all.

It was kind of funny watching last week's episode. After Phil announced what it was they have to do I thought, "Man! I would rather take the penalty than eat pork sausage. I won't care if I'm first or second last!" It was like after swallowing a mere quarter of what they were supposed to eat, the racers have this weird look already. Someone's gonna puke! And there goes half a pound of Alex's stomach content.


Not taking it anymore, Rob decided that taking the 4-hour penalty is better than sitting there stretching his stomach and neck muscle. To guarantee that he won't be last, he persuaded another team to take the penalty as well, not a very difficult thing to do since Deana immediately admitted that she won't be able to eat the 4 pounds of meat even before she sat down. And what do you know he was right and they finish at fifth place out of eight. One point for Rob.

I think that Rob and Amber are totally mistreated by the rest of the teams. From the very first leg all the teams are plotting to ensure the downfall of Rob and Amber be it not sharing info and even yielding them the first chance they get. Come on! Be a sport. It's a competition! Just because they've been on TV before (and thus have more screen time than the rest of them) doesn't mean they don't have the right to win. Like someone said earlier in the race, "It's a good thing that no one can get voted off in this show." Exactly. So anyone who's still in the race deserves to be in the race.

Frankly, I think all this hostility towards them will only fan their desire to win this race. They know that everyone is plotting against them and they will be yielded the next time someone has the chance. So nothing left to do but make sure they are always at the front of the pack so the rest won't have a chance in hell to even exercise the yield on them.

So I guess I'm supporting Rob and Amber this season. I must admit Rob is pretty smart for a construction worker. Yeah, he did kind of blurred the line between winning strategies and loyalty to friends the last time we saw him on TV, but I can tell deep down he's a good guy.

One thing I like about Amber is that she's not whiny, a very rare trait among girlfriends/fiances that I've seen in all seven seasons of The Amazing Race (apart from Kris from AR6 of course). She even kept quiet when Rob stole Debbie and Bianca's cab. Her silence says it all, she didn't approve but she thought it wouldn't cost anyone the race anyway because all the teams ended up waiting for the parking lot to open at 5AM. She doesn't say much throughout the race and the only remarks you can hear from her are words of encouragement to Rob. I think they work well together and this might take them to the final pitstop as winners.

Debbie and Bianca were okay too, apart from their initial stupidity of wanting to discuss about everything and the constant animosity towards Rob and Amber with no apparent reason. They could have been the first all-girl team to win the race. I think Rob knew that Debbie and Bianca are their main competition. He admitted to the camera that they are "tough chicks" and predicted Debbie to finish the Roadblock first instead of Patrick. But they didn't and they were eliminated. I think Rob would be pretty sorry to see them go.

Very exciting season and it's only just the first three episodes.

Go Rob and Amber!

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When India met China

I prefer horror and classic literature in my reading list. But once in a while I need a break from the thick, small-font books with long stories and complicated characters. So when the mood comes along I would pick up fiction for young readers, something that I can read in one day.

Last month, apart from Charlotte's Web, which I talked about in a previous post, I also read Seasons of Splendour: Tales, Myths and Legends of India, and Tales of a Chinese Grandmother, among others.

Seasons and Tales are filled with folktales from India and China respectively. What I find interesting is that they both incorporate stories with a certain date and celebrations in the year.

In Seasons, Madhur Jaffey would talk about her own views and memories of a particular time and follow it with the related folktales. In August, India would celebrate Krishna's birthday and so it's just natural to continue with stories of Krishna, the blue god. In September, there's Moon-day, a time to remember the dead where she also talks about her own grandfather and how he died. To complement this, she told the story of Doda and Dodi, a rich brother and his poor sister. Even though they are so different in stature, they still love each other. It's Doda's wife that's 'unpleasant'. Even when Doda wants to celebrate Moon-day to remember their father's death, she still treated Dodi badly. This style is consistent in every season.

It was with this book that I learned the many festivities that Indians celebrates and its significance like the Dussehra (The Festival of Victory) is when they remember how King Ram defeated Ravan, Holi is the festival of spring, and Karvachauth is when wives fast and pray for the long life of their husbands (cue images from Dulhana Dilwale La Jayenge).

I don't really know much of Indian customs and traditions. The ones that I know of are the ones celebrated here (Deepavali and Thaipusam) and those that I saw in Hindi movies. It doesn't help that Bollywood likes to glamorized their movies instead of telling it as it is. That's how I deduced that Holi is a festival for single boys and girls to mingle and throw colored powder to each other if by chance they get to mark their future mates (cue images from Mohabbatein). What I didn't know is it is also the time when ppl would give thanks to the gods for a bountiful harvest. It is also when they build a huge bonfire to remember Holika, even though wicked at first throw herself in a bonfire to save her innocent nephew. Pretty dramatic if you ask me. You never get to see that in Bollywood movies.

All in all this is a very nice book to get an idea of Indian custom. It is well balanced with a mixture of folktales and legends. And the occasional personal sentiments by the author gives you the sense that between all the tales, myths and legends she's also telling you her life story.

Tales also has a similar style with Seasons. Instead of incorporating it with personal takes, Frances Carpenter set the story among a fictitious high class family where Lao Lao (Old Old One) would occasionally relate stories to her grandchildren.

The central character, Lao Lao is the head of the large and quite well-off family since her husband died. She's the eldest member and so deserved the highest respect from the whole family. Kind of like Empress Dowager of The Forbidden Palace. I don't know if the stereotype of a matron as a controlling freak and a tyrant is clouding my judgment here but I find it hard to believe the loving and respectful relationship that this family has. She even pass punishments lovingly. Her grandson was asked to pray for forgiveness from the ancestors since he didn't answer when the whole household is looking for him and because he was fighting with his sister, they were 'condemned' to listen to a story of the Kitchen God. No lecture on etiquette, no dissing the parents for raising them badly. Hard to believe.

Well, I learn to ignore this element of the book and concentrate on the stories that the grandmother tells. There are a total of 28 stories ranging from legends of Pan Ku the man who made the world, Gwan Yin the Goddes of Mercy to moral stories in The Wonderful Pear Tree and The Grateful Fox Fairy. There are some good stories like The Mandarin and the Butterflies and The Painted Eyebrow, the latter telling a story why Chinese ladies prefer to paint their eyebrows. A very sweet story actually.

But there are also some unbelieveable stories like The First Emperor's Magic Whip. A legend says "spirits of the mountains themselves helped to roll the stones into their places, and a magic white horse dashed ahead of the wall builders to lay out the way". And the Jade Emperor gave each workman a cord to bind on his wrist so that they can work faster and easier. The Chin Emperor found out about the cord and stole them and braided all of them into a whip. With it he was able to make the rivers stand still, the rocks bleed and continue his ambitious endeavor. The Jade Emperor might as well send a messenger to stop the Emperor in the first place. Unbelieveable.

Another story that kind of tick me off is The Big Feet of Empress Tu Chin. This part of the book started with Yu Lang (the granddaughter) crying in pain because her feet has to be bound. And the grandmother consoled ber by telling the story of Empress Tu Chin. She sleepwalked every night and her husband was concern for her safety. So he decided to cut off eight inches from her twelve-inched feet so that she won't sleepwalk anymore and thus guarantees her safety. At that time big feet was all the rage, so the Empress cried over her ugly small feet. To console her, the emperor ordered every woman in the palace to cut their feet as well and so began the era if small feet. At the end of the story, Yu Lang thanked her grandmother and said, "That is a good story Lao Lao; I have almost forgotten that my poor feet are aching". Unbelieveable.

The fact that one is written by a local and the other by a foreigner might be the reason why I find Seasons more enjoyable than Tales. Tales do have some nicer illustrations but the stories are poorly executed. However this book does not prove that an outsider cannot write about the locals. I've read The Good Earth and I think it's a very good rendition of a Chinaman's life considering Pearl S. Buck is an American. But she has lived there most of her life while Carpenter draws stories from other literary sources. So there's a difference. I guess it is safe to conclude that you must live it to write about it. Must be the reason why most aspiring writers like to live it rough to be inspired (cue images from Moulin Rouge and Try Seventeen).

Which makes me wonder, is my life rough enough? Am I inspired enough? What does it take for me to become a great writer? I want to be immortal! I want my great literary works be praised and admired years after my death! I want a Booker prize! I want a Pulitzer! I want a Nobel Prize! I want it all!!!!

Oh well, I can still dream right?

Adam Sandler is the Man!

Adam Sandler is one under-rated actor.

I think he's brilliant in Punch-Drunk Love and the recent Spanglish. I wish he would take up more dramatic roles but a check at IMDB reveals more comedies.

It's weird if you look at his career path closely. He started with Saturday Night Live where he's famous for his quirky Chanukah and Lunch-Lady songs. Then he move over to films where his roles would usually consists of down-trodden oddman who always gets the last laugh (and the girl!) like The Waterboy, Happy Gilmore and Billy Madison. And then you have the occasional cameo appearances in The Animal and The Hot Chick. I don't know what he was thinking when he did Little Nicky. From weird tasteless comedies he suddenly end up in Spanglish.

He went from this

to this


This drama has some funny bits but instead of physical comedy, the comic relief comes from the script which needs proper execution.

I like how the movie played with the various authoritative roles that each character has. Usually it's like mother-husband-wife-kids-maid-maid's daughter. But in this movie it's not really clear who's the actual authority figure in this little household. The mother is an alcoholic, the husband holds high respect for the maid, the wife doesn't really know what she's suppose to do, the children suffocating under the rule of their mother, the maid feels sorry for the kids and the maid's daughter tries to make sense of it all.

In the beginning it was husband-wife-mother-kids-maid-maid's daughter. Then it becomes husband-maid-kids-maid's daugter-wife-mother. There was a time when it was wife-husband-mother-kids-maid's daughter-maid and suddenly it changed into maid-mother-husband-wife-kids-maid's daughter. Just watch it. It's quite a gem.

Forget about Pretty Woman, Sleepless in Seattle or Casablanca. I think 50 First Dates is the most romantic movie I have ever seen. Romantic movies usually involves one party having to sacrifice something to be with the one he/she loves. But in 50 First Dates, Henry Roth has to face the possibility that one day he would lose his mojo and cannot make Lucy fall in love with him again.

You know how men sometimes become less loving after they got the girl? Well Henry won't have a chance in hell to do that. He has to keep the passion alive each and every day to keep her. And he still wants her even though he has the challenging task of winning her heart everyday. If that's not romantic I don't what is.

To conclude, let me say this again - Adam Sandler is one under-rated actor.

Kampung Gal in the Historical City

Malacca is my favourite city in Malaysia (so far since I haven't been to all the cities in Malaysia).

It's quiet but interesting. You kind of have this sense of being in a kampung but still happening enough, for me at least. It's rich with history and culture and thriving with development. It's tradition and modern all roll into one place. Wish I could live there.

During the Chinese New Year holidays back in February, I turned tourist and went there for a visit. Yes, for all those who's been following my blog since January, I took Option 1.

Blur? This is Option 1.

I reached R-Mka's house at about 12:30 pm Thursday. Her parents were not home because they went for Haj but all her siblings were there. We just hang around not knowing what to do since all the interesting places will be close in a few hours and it won't be worth going. Constantine just open that day. Even though I told ST I will see it with her, I just can't wait and ask R-Mka if she wanted to watch the movie. Also a Keanu fan, she agreed.

We ate a late lunch and went to Mahkota Parade. Thankfully there were tickets available. Wow! You can never get tickets on opening day in KL.

After the movie, we took a drive along Jonker Street. We were hoping that someone from the Baba Nyonya House was workaholic enough to open the house to visitors a day after CNY. No luck there. But cruising along Jonker Street with no traffic was such a pleasant experience. Since it was also the CNY season, the whole street was decorated with red lanterns. I wanted to get some photos but we thought we can do this tomorrow after the trip to the zoo.

We got back at about 7pm, took a shower and went out again for a seafood dinner with her family. Got back and with nothing left to do we went to sleep. Boy, did I sleep early that night.

I wanted to go to Zoo Melaka but since we're going to pass Taman Mini Malaysia anyway, might as well go there first. The ticket is a surprising RM10 for adults and an additional RM5 if you're bringing in a camera. I could have snucked in the camera but what the hell, I'll consider it as a donation. I know these places need all the funds they can get.

We walked in with Noraniza Idris' songs blasting through the air. The person who checked us in told us that there's going to be a culture dance show at 3pm and 4pm. Neat. But we wanted to go Zoo Melaka so we may not be able to see it.

The place is quite nice. It showcases traditional houses from 12 states in Malaysia. Check out the photos here. 15 minutes in, we started to enjoy the place so much that we decided to skip Zoo Melaka. You know how hot February was and it was so nice to be there. Cool breeze was blowing all around, the trees were rustling, you get to visit different houses, get to lepak in each and everyone of them. And we can even catch the culture show too.

We were there from 11:30am until the show ends at 4pm. I had a very good time there. I love traditional houses and getting to see all the different variations at one place is remarkable. Not only that, they also extended the place to include a Taman Mini Asean where they showcase different types of houses from the Asean region like Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, and Filipina.

It was a day well spent. And it is even nicer when you spent it with someone who enjoys the place as much as you did.

The next plan was to take a walk at Jonker Street and see if I can get some good shots there, but we were kind of tired. (God! Are we that old?) So, we went back to R-Mka's house and I took a short *gasp* nap. At about 8pm I head back to KL. Back to the hustle and bustle of the city and to the chaotic atmosphere that is my house.

*sigh*

Next Trip
Spend a night at one of the hotels at Jonker Street and Zoo Melaka.

Perils of men Part I

A post by vlad reminded me how malicious men can be to his own kind. It seems that everywhere you turn there's someone who would rather think of new ways to make other ppl's lives more miserable than find ways to improve his own life. Let's set the record straight, when I say men, I mean both men and women.

I've heard so many stories about this kind of thing that I thought I'm going to pull a Hustler and share some of the stories with you. All names have been changed to protect their privacy ya!

Crushing the competition
My friend's aunt is a very good cook and opened her own restaurant. She did very well at first but things started to go downhill from there. It seems that not many customers come to her place anymore. Eventually she has to close the place. After some time she realized why no one came to her shop. Because my friend also told us that she once went to visit her aunt's restaurant but just can't seem to find it. Even after she walked around the area a few times.

What happen to 'healthy competition'? Don't they realize that if you keep doing this your life will never be happy in the end? God works in mysterious ways you know! I bet you the ppl responsible for this is bankrupt with 2 kids in jail for drug charges, a daughter married to an alcoholic who ended up murdering her husband while they themselves are thrown to the streets begging for food at newly opened restaurants!!!!!!!
*Kampung Gal taking deep breath*
Ok. Not good to dwell on negative things. Let's just leave that up to God, shall we? Now let's get to the next story.

Last weekend I went to Ipoh for my friend's wedding. On the way back, the topic of langsuir (female ghost with entrails hanging on to her bodyless head) somehow cropped up among the many things we talked about. Some time ago, someone actually found a lock of very long black hair snagged on his car and this was featured in Misteri Nusantara. Ooooohhh... I'm getting goosebumps. Ok, no more talk on langsuir.

Well, from there, my friend suddenly remembered a story that involved her friend. Let's call this friend of my friend Siti.

Holding a grudge
Siti is a student at a local U and shares an apartment with her college mate (Minah). They took the same course and lived well together. For a while.

Like most responsible roommates they would work together to take care of the apartment and even prepare dinner for each other. One day Siti started throwing up all the food she has eaten, no matter what she ate. But mostly it would be the ones prepared by Minah (you can guess what this is all about la). And now Siti is so miserable, she's sick all the time and it's disturbing her studies.

My friend and this Siti happens to know this guy, Abang Ali. And he's a bit knowledgable about things out of the ordinary. So he prepared some air jampi (blessed water) for Siti to take. After Siti drank the water, she threw up all her contents in her stomach. A bit nasty but at least she was able to empty out any 'alien' content in her body. And with God's grace, she got better after that.

During the weekend, Siti went back to her hometown and visit her grandmother, who also has this 'gift'. Her grandma asked Siti to close her eyes and she said,
"Nampak tak?" [see anything?]
Siti actually saw a vision of Minah but not able to believe she would do such a thing she just said,
"Takde la. Belum lagi." [No. Nothing yet]
"Dah nampak dah tu. Nenek pun boleh nampak." [You've seen her. I can see her also.]

So it's confirmed. Minah was the one causing all this. And her grandma warned her not to eat any more food prepared by Minah.

For Siti's 'therapy', her grandma took an apple and said some enchantment over it. After some time, a white powdery substance would appear and covered the whole apple. My friend told me that the powder cannot be wiped off even if you scrubbed very hard. I don't know how but that's the way she told it to me and that's the way I'm going to tell it to you.

Siti has to take a few apples, about 20 of them. And everytime her grandmother said the chants the white powder will appear and each time some new patterns would form on the apple too. But the powder appeared less and less with time and Siti recovered from this ordeal in the end.

It was not clear why Minah suddenly would do this to Siti. They thought about it and the only reasonable answer was because Siti has changed to another course without telling Minah about it. It seems that this new course is a bit easier than what they were both taking before. So I guess Minah felt betrayed and alone.

I wonder how a girl can do these things over a small matter. Get over it! It's not like Siti is the only student taking that course with her. There must be other students that she can turn to for help in her studies. But I guess with this kind of attitude it's a wonder that she even has friends at all!

They also found out that this Minah has 'saka' in her family. That's why she has the ability to do this kind of thing. As far as I know, 'saka' is an entity that would follow a particular family and will usually hang around with a particular family member in each generation. It usually started when a family member 'acquired' this entity by certain means. A lot of ppl do this in the old days for various reasons, mainly for protection, but more and more family today opt to release it because it can go against Islamic principles.

So the 'saka' was following Minah's father for a generation. And when her father died it was accidently passed to her. You see, her father didn't want to pass it to her because he knew that she will only abuse it. But he didn't perform the proper ritual to release it either before he died. Minah was nearby when he passed away, so not knowing where to go, it got stuck with Minah.

I'm not really clear of what 'saka' really is but it can give the owner certain powers. In Minah's case, she used it to do harm to others, and even get herself a boyfriend. She will just calit (touch) any guy that she wants and he will be her own little puppy dog. And once she's done, that little puppy dog will just be left in the streets, not even considerate enough to send him to the dog pound. This variation of 'love potion' can be pretty dangerous you know. I've heard some ppl can go insane when the one responsible just leave them like that.

Wow, it seems this story is quite long. Not meant to bore you with long post I will stop here. True to Hustler's style I will post the rest of my story with Perils of Men Part II. Stay tune...

Kampung Gal apalogizes to The Hustler for stealing his style.

My first Dick-ens

If you still don't know by now, I finished The Pickwick Papers.

I'm so happy not just because it took me so long to finish it but I think I found another favorite author. Isn't it wonderful when you find something that you like and knowing that there's more? In this case, you read a book that you enjoyed and find out that the author wrote other books as well.

I wonder why it took me so long considering that I enjoyed it from the beginning. The text is not particularly hard. I mean it was not a heavy drama like A Tale of Two Cities with the French Revolution setting (which I have no idea about). It's a comedy with simple subjects. It's very long with 777 pages of small typeset. But then I picked up The Yearling and I was hooked on that one so the Pickwickians was left at the backseat. After I finished The Yearling I started The Grapes of Wrath because I went to Bali at that time and I didn't want to bring the bulky Pickwick Papers. I picked it up again after I finished the Steinbeck book. And 3 months after I read the first page I reached the last page.

This is the first Dickens that I've read after The Christmas Carol, which I didn't really enjoy. With all the films, cartoons, puppet shows with various adaptations and interpretations, you just begin to not care anymore. So why did I finally read it? It was because I saw this nice illustrated HC edition at a bargain price so I just have to buy it. And since there are some nice pictures inside I might as well read it too.

I bought other Dickens' books after that like A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations but never got around to read them. I bought Great Expectations because I found a nice illustrated HC edition at a bargain price and I just have to buy it (do I sound like a broken record here? So now you know I'm a sucker for illustrated HC classics at bargain price). I bought A Tale of Two Cities because I saw this movie (I can't remember which) where a 15 yr-old black student proved that he has learned how to read by reading this particular book to his teacher. When I heard

It was the best of time, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of encredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness...

I just fell in love with it. And lo and behold I went out and bought the book. I got to the end of the first chapter before shelving this one.

So how come The Pickwick Papers interests me enough to make me read it till the end?



I've always love literary works where the author is honest enough to depict his own people in a comic way, kind of like Jane Austen though her comic sense are more subtle.

In The Pickwick Papers we get to see London where the men can be greedy and selfish, the women's lifetime goal is to get a wedding proposal, the children are fat and lazy, and the servants are not always stupid. It's about 4 distinguished gentlemen, lead by the robust and bubbly Mr Pickwick, who are sworn to observe and chronicle any interesting events around them. Their 'interesting' events includes a fight in the street where they meet the ever-charismatic Mr Sam Weller (my favourite character), Mr Pickwick's terrible predicament with his landlady, an elopement, a few misadventures with a Mr Jingle and some other smaller events. Along the way they met some very interesting and memorable characters like Mr Weller (Sam's father), two politicians and two feuding newspaper editors. Well ok, maybe they're not members of some secret society sworn to protect the location of a holy relic or even good looking men who's on the lookout for the love of their lives but with an artist like Charles Dickens behind the pen, anything will be interesting enough.

Even the chapter titles are funny.

• How Mr Winkle, instead of shooting at the Pigeon and killing the Crow, shot at the Crow and wounded the Pigeon
• How Mr Winkle, when he stepped out of the Frying-pan, walked gently and comfortably into the Fire
• Illustrative, like the preceding one, of the old Proverb, that Adversity brings a Man acquainted with strange Bed-fellows. Likewise containing Mr Pickwick's extraordinary and startling announcement to Mr Samuel Weller
• Too full of Adventure to be briefly described

Yes, these are actual chapter titles from The Pickwick Papers.

Dickens true depiction of a debtor's prison brought the comic level down a notch. Like life itself, it was not all funny and amusing with this book.

One thing that many new readers would notice about this book is that it is very 'wordy'. It is filled with long sentences making it obvious he was paid by the word. But having read a few English literature I just think it's a common style in the 1800s. Don't you think English ppl in those days do talk on and on over the simplest thing?

One thing I learned from this book is to read the introduction after reading the text. I've tried reading them so many times with other classic literature to sort of prepare myself of what I'm getting into and find out what to look out for. But I always gave up after a few pages. Even though it's called 'Introduction' it is actually more like a critical essay talking about something you haven't delve into. It doesn't help that it usually comes with a smaller typeface than the already small font for the main text.

This time around, I read the Introduction after I finish reading the book and I understood what he was trying to say. I found out that what appeals to me about this book was also the reason why this book got so famous when first published in England. Apparently, the general readers back then were quite taken with Sam Weller too. I find it amazing that a book can bring the same affect to someone half a world away 100 years in the future. One good way to define classic literature.

Malcolm Andrews, the introducer, even shared a story how his grandfather would sit in his rocking chair with a pipe in his hand and this book on his lap. It's very easy to point out the parts that "tickled him", Andrews said. Just find the pages with "powdery gray ash caught in the spine". To know which part he enjoyed more, just compare the size of the ash traces .

I think I'm ready to get me some more Dickens. Maybe I'll start on Great Expectations but wait! I don't know which box this book is in. Maybe I'll go for A Tale of Two Cities then... Hmmm maybe too difficult for current state of mind. That leaves Bleak House... sounds pretty bleak to me... hmmm ok maybe I'll give Dickens a break for now. At least until I can find another of his comedies.

And I apologize for the cheesy title. I can't help it, I just had to do it.
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Life is what you make of it

A few weeks ago I went to my cousin's house because she was holding a kenduri kesyukuran (thanksgiving ceremony). She just got her Phd, the first to do so in my family. And I wondered will I ever get a Phd? Will I even get a master's degree?? Will I ever get anything??? What the hell have I been doing????


I remember way back then when life was much simpler and when there's nothing wrong with just hanging out with your friends doing nothing but talk about silly things for hours. And one of those silly talks involved what kind of titles we'll be getting when we got older.
"I want to be Datin Siti."
"No la, Puan Sri Aminah lagi best."
"If like that, you have to marry a Datuk or Tan Sri."
"Ok la tu." said Siti and Aminah.
"I'd rather be Dr Kampung Gal or Datuk Dr Kampung Gal and maybe Professor Tan Sri Kampung Gal. Ok tak?"

Ten years passsed and I'm still a long way away to getting that 'Dr' in front of my name, and don't even consider the Datuk or Tan Sri.

Plans didn't work out. My struggle to get an American Degree in Computer Science was left in the dust. And I have to settle with an Australian Business Degree that I got through a twinning program. My marks were not that impressive either. Does it increase my value as a human resource? I don't know yet. I'll just have to see if I can get a better employment with that piece of paper first.

Then my sister walked in and I heard my Dr Cousin said, "Where's the Puan Hajjah?". They hugged and congratulate each other. So there they were, both about the same age, both a mother. But while one pursued a career in education, the other stayed home even though she has a degree from an American university and has a future in banking. And I thought, "Hey, my sister, the housewife, achieved something too."

Which got me thinking.

How do you measure a person's achievement? Isn't the General Manager of ABC Corp as successful as each and everyone of the Ibu Mithali recipients who nurtured and invested their time and money on human commodity instead of property? Does all the Datuks and Tan Sris deserve more recognition than the Teacher of the Year who gave all his energy to ensure the next generation is well -learned? Does Siti Nurhaliza deserves more respect than the people who picked your garbage three times a week so that your house doesn't smell when you're watching Siti on TV?

Well I guess, the answer lies within yourself.

Ok ok that line sounds corny but there's no better way to say it.

It's just like in the last few scenes of LOTR the movie. The four Hobbits, after going through the biggest adventure anyone could have had and completing a mighty quest to vanguish all darkness in Middle Earth, finally returned to the Shire. Was there a hero's welcome? No. They celebrated their first night home at the tavern drinking ale. They have received the highest honor when a king, all his subjects and even the great Elven people bow down to them. But back home, oblivious to what went on in the west, the people of the Shire were more excited with a big pumpkin. But even if they're not appreciated among their own people, these four knew that they have achieved something great and so does the rest of Middle Earth.

As for me, I'm not where I would want to be right now. But what the hell. At least I have a degree and I'm working in an industry that I care about. I'm healthy, I have food in my belly and a roof over my head. What matters now is what I'm going to do with the time I have left. So, I guess that Phd is not so unattainable after all.

As for you, the next time you feel like such a loser, look again. Because what you are is what YOU make of it and don't let anyone say any different.

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