say it right

so... have you ever went shopping and suddenly stumble across a shop with an unpronouncable name? like "oh hey... i like the scents from... bullgari...? bvuh.. buh.. what!?"

well here's where you don't have to worry anymore cos i'm gonna help you with some of the more common confusing and mispronounced brand names (and a bit of etcs if time permits). even if you aren't interested in fashion, never underestimate the power of pronouncing things right, for one, no one likes people to mispronounced their name. take it from me, I know. and secondly, a little extra knowledge never hurts right? besides, you can impress your friends by saying it as if you know it. haha. oh... i thought of another reason; so the snotty sales people will have no reason to turn their noses higher at us.

alright, so let's see how many of those names have we butchered before.

Bvlgari (Bull-ge-ri)

Cartier (Kar-t-tay) sounds so weird i know!

Gianni Versace (Gee-ya-nee Ver-sa-chee)

Givenchy (Jee-von-she)

Hermes (Air-mez) i like!

Jean Paul Gaultier (Zhon Paul Gol-tee-air)

LOccitane (Lox-ee-tarn)

Lanvin (Larn-von)

Piaget (Pee-uh-jaay)

Moschino (Mo-ski-no)

Swarovski (Swore-off-ski)

Tissot (Tee-soh)

Yves Saint Laurent (Eve San Lor-ron)


there're more where all this came from, don't want to bore everyone with too many terms now. what a pity all these designers have to be from a non english speaking background? makes us english speakers lives so painful in terms of pronunciation.



will probably start googling food and cars the next round.

messy mess

my office desk is a mess. papers papers and more papers, stationery, and whatever else you usually find in an office is on it. i usually pride myself on being messy but organised (which to my neat as a pin mom just looks like mess with a capital M), but this time, it's anything but organised.


now, i hate not being able to compartmentalise and put things in order... but this is beyond me. you see, i've just been given a new set of work outside my usual quota which involves a tedious (and horrendously dull) amount of filing, organising, pairing, and stapling work. and for any of you who've done spring cleaning before (i liken it to spring cleaning cos that's the closest thing i could think of), you've first got to start by hauling everything out to know which you want and which you don't right? so yes, i can say my table looks a little like a hurricane of papers just blew past. the papers are stacked alright, but every available surface is covered by things. urgh, just thinking of it makes me stressed already.


some mornings, i'm so tempted to pay hooky and just ditch work to laze on the beach, or go on a roadtrip; destination unknown. which reminds me, i sooooooooo really desperately want to lie on the sand on the beach at night to gaze at the stars. boo to all the scary people waiting to rob you on the beach. i want to do something random and impulsive again, planning and playing by the rules is so mundane. diving into a waterfall and parasailing were both scary, but the feeling you get during and after... man... is just indescribable.


do you sometimes get the feeling that life is too short to do the same boring old things over and over and over again?

why guys should just shush...

... and let girls watch football.

ah football. the game where 22 men seek to play the ball into each team's net to score points. that football.

so, living in a country where you must be blind if you don't leave your house and spot at least one guy (or girl) walking around wearing a (usually) fake manU, or chelsea or liverpool jersey. i mean, talk football, or to make myself more correct, talk english premier league and suddenly people become animated and start discussing why on earth owen decided to throw his self worth away by joining manu, or last night's match. you get the point. of course, not everyone likes the beautiful game and i'm well aware of that (man, you guys are missing out), but i'm speaking of the majority here.

and back to the topic. girls oh girls... aren't you so sick of hearing guys who are die hard fans of football self-righteously proclaim that girls who watch football only do so because they LIKE to watch the PLAYERS for their LOOKS?

"aiya girls only know how to watch the hot guys like beckham and kaka la"

cos i so am.

now i won't get started on the
guys watch beauty pageants and america's next top models just to oogle over the hot girls anyway" debate. but what i will do is defend my sisters who like me, do not watch football just to look at kaka or ronaldo (eek!).

i wonder why is it so difficult for guys to accept that the female gender are quite capable enjoying the game because of the way it's played rather than by how hot beckham's body looks in a jersey. in fact, it's my opinion that girls bring home a more all-rounded experience watching football as compared to guys. the horror! well, here's why: we girls (who understand the game) are able to not only able to enjoy the beauty of dribblings, passes and other football abc's, cheer our favourite team on; BUT we're also able to appreciate the fine physical attributes of certain players (which the guys usually can't). so, don't we have the upper hand when it comes to watching football? don't GIRLS get the most out of a single football experience compared to guys? hah!

yes i do admit that girls being girls, we don't dissect every single nitty-gritty detail of every match, nor do we know every single one of the players names on the pitch or their recent history... but hey, at least you guys'll have someone to share your passion about when your guy buddies are not around right? besides, who'll you have as your unlikely ally (ie. not nag you about it) come world cup season?

i rest my case.

i've got news and yet i haven't got em. or news that would interest anybody that is. or maybe i've just lost my touch.


work is taking up most (roughly 3 quarters) of my time and when i get back, i'm way too exhausted to look into my soul to think of what to write about. everyday i mentally kick myself for voluntarily agreeing to torture myself, but together with it comes the feeling of being useful, and of course... being able to support myself for the first time in my life. it's exhilirating. okay, maybe not so, but it's a good feeling. yay i'm self-sufficient even if by doing it i have to sacrifice a lot of my me/ friends/ boyfriend/ family time. which is why i now see the importance in doing something that you like. imagine being stuck at least 9 hours a day stuck in a job that you hate? it's enough to make one cry. yes, i'm living the "work-to-wait-for-lunch-and-then-to-go-back" life now, but hey it's only temporary so i can deal with it. $$$ and the fear of idly rotting at home again ala august and september are my only motivation.


it's not a certain thing yet, but i think (forgive me for sounding so uncertain) i'll most probably take up University of Canterbury's offer and study English there. please please don't give me the quizzical look or ask me what will i be working as after i graduate. lol. i know it's a very unconventional choice of subject but... well i don't know how to explain it so i'll just give my head a break and not try. maybe another day when i'm more... awake? anyway, the low-down; if i do go ther to study, i'll be gone (sob sob i know i'll be dearly missed) for 2 1/2 years in christchurch which fyi, is in new zealand's south island. google to find out more. the sucky part is that i can't skip as many credits as i would've liked to cos i'm changing to a whole new area. so, my dip in mass comm doesn't help me much if i were to do english.
now all i need is peace of heart to know that i've made the right decision.


i'm starting to see stars so it's best i stop now. goodbye!

it never ceases to amaze me at how sweet tempered sara is. i have disturbed her by pinching, petting, rolling her about (can't help it she's so tubby you see) and done countless other annoying things to her while she was either eating or sleeping.

but she has never once growled or snarled at me, or any member of my family. not once. and that's why i sayang her so much.

how can i not? she even checks the bathroom for lizards for me everytime i want to use it. though i have to admit, more out of desire to play with them then out of actual love for me.

even so...

prayer among other things

pastor marcus is right.


we christians acknowledge that prayer works miracles and has the power to change things, we also talk about praying a lot. and yet, we don't like to pray much.


i admit i am that kind of christian. for me, i'd rather praise and worship or listen to the sermon than pray. cos praying is (forgive me for saying this but i'm being honest) boring and my mind keeps wandering off to everything else but God when i'm praying. and i also have this really big problem of praying a very me me me type of prayer. of course, there're times when God has really touched me some way or another and i become very fervent and sincere in talking to Him in my quiet time, but fellow christians will understand i think... , after awhile you know, i'll forget and lapse back into the tidak apa state again.


so today's sermon about prayer was really timely and relevant for me. having had a revelation of sorts about the more unpleasant side of me last night, it really is a comfort to go back to God and ask for help. because prayer is not only a time where you ask God for this and for that... it's also an opportunity to map out your strategy plans with God regarding your problems. i can testify to the number of times i started praying while being angry, upset, confused but ended the prayer feeling a lot calmer and more prepared to forgive or apologize. but, like a lot of people, i still need to work on not only giving Him my time and talking to Him whenever i'm in trouble and need help, but all the time as well. being a christian is not a one step process in which once you get through an obstacle it's smooth sailing from then on. it's a series of moving forward, then getting blocked and sometimes going backwards, all the time.


another thing that came into mind was WWJD?
what would Jesus do?

honestly, i haven't been asking myself that for a long time. mostly, it's just what would denise do or someone else's. but hardly Jesus's. which was probably why i've messed up a lot of times. i'm sure Jesus wouldn't throw tantrums if he didn't get what He wanted...

but it's hard ok. it's really hard. it's denise's way vs God's way all the way. and yes it's a struggle to say no to what i would usually do to open my possibilities of confronting a situation with what God would rather i do.

do you think practising would make perfect?
cos i really hope so.






*
liverpool did superbly well yesterday *smiling from ear to ear* and work is getting better though i still feel uncontrollably sleepy after lunch. how la?

have you ever wondered?

we work day in and out to buy things that we want/ make our family more comfortable/ acheive things in life...

but

isn't it because we're too busy working that we have no time to buy what we want/ spend time with our families/ acheive other (non-monetary) goals in life?

opportunity cost.

sad thing really.

work is tiring :( hope i get used to it fast.

do you watch too much tv?

class?

today being the dutiful daughter i am... followed my dad on one of his work rounds to The Cove. there was a broken window in one of the units and stuff. my dad does construction and renovation work, so i imagine you can put 2 and 2 together by yourself.

anyway, the cove is a really neat place. k, just imagine this... over 6000 sq ft of space and a view of the sea. yes very pretty. so it's like, one unit per floor and my gosh the space... seriously, i think you need about two maids just to maintain the place. well i've never had the luxury of living in anything that big so excuse my exclamations of ignorance. hehe. having a lot of space is well... nice (such a boring word but i can't help it), but i kinda got a bit disoriented walking around the 'apartment'. again, modestly-sized house upbringing. so as i was walking around ooh-ing and ahh-ing at the rooms, the toilets, the living room, i'm quite ashamed to say that i was already mentally buying and furnishing one of my own *sheepish grin*. walk in closet, jacuzzi, fur rug in the hall, music room with a grand piano... now don't you just wish you were rich?

being there gave me the feeling of being in a seaside resort. i don't know why (and i'm sure i'm mistaken) but the tenents there well, they have the feel of being rich and idle. you know... housewives with nothing to do other than schedule their next manicure appointment or do yoga with their equally bored friends on the sun porch (now this i really saw on my way out), eurasians who just want to r & r by killing their skin cells in the sun, datuks who just buy property like this as just another house... now tell me you don't despise them just a little bit. but i'm sure there're plenty of young, hardworking, and richer-than-thou people who live there as well. who have lives other than visiting orphanages in "that old thing" LV bag in which they stuff everything from thermoses to i don't know... lip balm in. not, that there's anything wrong with that.

oh by the way, i seem to observe that the rich seem to favour whites and pastel colours in their dressing. particularly whites. but i like it. wealthy fashion. snobby. nice. can you tell i'm kidding?

so back to the supersized apartment unit that i was fortunate enough to put my middle-class body in...

it was really nicely furnished. clearly the work of a professional (ie not done by self), looked like something from a design magazine but more sparsely furnished cos i think they're planning to rent it out. it's really stylish and all, but i think i'd like to decorate my house myself. it gives character to the house. and it's more personal when every piece of furniture has a memory to it.

now if i had a crib like this i'ma gonna have loads of kids (oh 4 at least). otherwise what on earth am i going to do with all that space? well the dog's gonna need one of it's own...

this'll make me stop ppk-ing

best in broadcasting - denise ong.

laugh out loud.


i don't feel like i really deserved it.


1. because they give the award to the student with the highest cgpa in broadcasting class. that doesn't mean that the person is really awesome in broadcasting bla bla. i know i'm not, because i know my classmates and i know that they're far more knowledgeable in broadcasting know-how than me. i just happened to do a bit better in exams i guess.

2. i didn't even attend the awards ceremony. it's a yearly thingie held to appreciate and award deserving students (like me) and name the best this best that (think oscars). basically, show off student's work for that year. and i feel really lousy for ppk-ing the event. hey how was i supposed to know i won something? which makes it doubly worse cos i finally won something but didn't even get to enjoy the fruits of my labour. haih.


wonder if i'll still be able to claim my prize/award now? that is, if i'm able to show my face around college for awhile.


oh yeah before i forget, i'm gonna be graduating next saturday morning. so, if any of my dear friends want to attend/ see me looking funny/ wish me/ present me flowers... do let me know :)

tired of elaborating now. time to (re)fill my stomach.