Faith the Dog

a little something to brighten up a darker day.

i think i need extra luggage weight. 20kilos is just not gonna suffice. boo.

and might i add, woolly jumpers are just so unflattering.

as i.m brushing away the glitter of december off my back, oh hello sobering january! the weight of real life comes again to weigh on my shoulders. things that i've tried to push to the back of my mind, i have to deal with now. yeah... like getting things in order, and saying goodbye. nothing too depressing and yet, important.

anyhoo... let me take a minute to grieve with the families of those boys (and teacher) who drowned in the dragonboat fiasco. how fast a bright flame is extinguished. these boys had bright futures, great ambitions to carve their niche in the world. and yet. life, oh life... how fleeting thou art. when we think we've got everything down pat, everything changes.

get off your butt denise! get out of your comfort zone!

i'm sensing a sudden depressing turn to this so change of subject. sooooo... here are some pictures of where i will be very soon. just so you have an idea of the place. and don't worry, it's very beautiful i assure you. honestly, part of new zealand's appeal is how people keep mentioning how beautiful it is.

concerned individual: so where will you be going to?

me: new zealand

c.i: oh really? beautiful place, so quiet.

me: mm... yea

i tell you, if i had 50sen to everytime this conversation happened, i'd be well... not rich, but at least i could but a mcvalue meal with it. but it is. beautiful i mean. ah can't be helped i guess... so go on, say it... i'll be able to bear it. i think?

anyway, feast your eyes.

looking at it, ok i admit, it is a rather measely feast. but still... more when i get there.

so eat up!

trip a lil trip

23 more days to cold christchurch.

i feel so unsettled just coming back from a holiday and starting to pack for another long-haul trip again. ok, well, not a trip exactly...

it's like, i can't see myself past "leaving for nz". everything in my vision of the near future stops and ends at "when i leave". i mean, i know life goes on and it's what i've always wanted, but as i cross of the days on my planner, i'm loathing to leave penang more and more. it's hard saying goodbye to your comfort zone and hear about your friends doing things you used to do. boo.

but wouldn't life be just boring without new experiences? besides, it's a real blessing that i was given the chance to go.

anyway...

bangkok was wicked!

if i could sum it all up in one word, i guess it'd be shopping. cos that's what we and a whole lot of tourists did the whole 4 days we were there. shopped til the very last minute we absolutely had to leave for the airport. i'm not really a shopping person, so after a day or two i started to get a bit sick of acquiring stuff. but we stayed in the middle of the shopping district so haha, what else is there to do?

but let's start at the beginning shall we? i have to admit, bangkok totally surpassed all of my expectations. i imagined a grime-filled, crime ladden congested city, but my first impressions were of how modern and organised the city actually is. they have this absolutely cool escalators at the airport which i wish i could ride again. hehe. and a lot of their malls are interlinked by walkways just under the LRT (whatever it's called there), so you don't have to risk getting knocked down by scary motorists while crossing the road.

and the malls... the Malls. think kl's pavillion and klcc, only flashier and much bigger. since we did much shopping there, i shall mention some of the places that we visited.

view from our hotel

Paragon was obviously the most high end of the lot. i mean, audi, lamborghini(i hope this is how you spell it?), lotus, porsche, bmw, and masseratti all have showrooms there. so you can imagine. but i liked it even if all we could do was salivate at the shop displays. very classy and posh, y'know? oh, and thumbs up for their gourmet market. lotsa fine imported food on display and sampling.



we frequented Central like a Lot. cos it was directly opposite our hotel so... haha yeah you get the picture. it's this really really ginormous shopping place with the biggest forever 21 i've ever seen. yes, that alone is worth a visit. this mall really reminded me of pavillion, similarities of shops inside i guess.



and on the other side of the scale, there's Platinum. i won't even call it a mall, it's more of rows and rows and more rows of shops selling clothes, bags , shoes, accessories mostly at wholesale prices. the only downside (or upside?) is that you have to purchase at least 3 pieces to be eligible for wholesale price. and most of the stuff looked like things you'd see on blogshops for a fraction of what it originally cost. my sis went absolutely crazy here needless to say.



and the funnest place was the chatuchak weekend market! the sheer size of it is scary. i don't think you'd be able to finish looking at everything there in a day. but definately worth a visit because they sell everything and anything from clothes to craft items to puppies there. i adore the craft section but too bad most of the things go in bulk, so couldn't buy much. it makes you want to start your own business just so you can buy them all back. yes it really does!

look how adorable they are! little fuzzballs...

things things things everywhere...

but, i was right on a few accounts; that bangkok is really a congested place. both with people and cars. still makes me exhausted to think of it. and the sky is grey on default. depressing really, all this pollution.

last day in bangkok. goodbye pollution!

tee-hee! some of the stuff we bought.

any title will do

sometimes... it's really the little things that count. someone who holds the door for you, a friendly greeting, the chicken rice guy who always always decorates extra cucumbers on my rice. might not mean a lot to the person who does it but i find that whenever someone does something nice for me, or i see someone doing it for other; it just makes my day a lil bit brighter. i might have just quarreled with my boyfriend, but to have a total stranger or a friend go just a little bit extra to do something for me is well, touching. no words can really describe it but i know we all feel it.


watching how my colleagues treat a rather elderly customer who just came in has really touched me. and brought back my faith in humankind. amidst all the stress and busyness, sadness and sicknesses; it's heartening to see that people still care to be nice. altruism may be surpressed by the fear of being manipulated by people, but i can see now that it's not dead, only dormant. we are capable of being better people. i know we are.


things have been a bit rocky lately. i rollercoaster up and down my mood swings every moment and generally haven't been really good company, angry sullen company maybe (haha). but who knew? one little gesture would motivate me to get out of the slump i find myself in and think of others for a change. to everyone who has touched my life one way or another, i really thank you. for without you people, i wouldn't be inspired to follow likewise.

the movies

had a movie outing last night with the girls. fun-est!
everyone who's ever been to the movies knows that the experience is so much more than just watching the movie. right? right? and people! there's just so much to see there. my usual cinematic experience encompasses

the talker- the one who talks throughtout the whole movie. omg i have sat beside a girl once who kept asking her bf a whole litany of silly obvious questions about the movie. girl, if you want to know why the hero is crying, then watch the movie like everyone else!

the director- the one who tells you the whole storyline while you're watching the movie itself.

the kicker- ooh don't you get soooo annoyed when the person behind you kicks your chair and goes on kicking and kicking and just won't stop? hello... this is not your home mister!

the one who texts while the show's on- enough said.

the pda couple- this i've never encountered but my bf told me about this couple who just couldn't keep their hands and lips to themselves. lol. get a room.

the one who spills popcorn all over the floor - that used to be me back when i was umm... clumsier *grins*

and yesterday, i added a few more to my observation book.

the hong kong foot - omgosh! can die k! especially if the guy sits just right behind you with his odourous kiam hoo feet just inches from your head. ugh! people with sneakers, please don't ever take your shoes off in small places with bad ventilation... he totally spoilt the movie for me.

the sleeper - cute people who stay awake long enough to see the start of the story, fall asleep during the climax and wake up just in time to see the credits. oh they even snore. hehe. see, aren't they just the cutest?


ok enough. goodbye.

to

the one who makes funny faces together with me

the one who knows my mood swings

the one who makes me laugh and cry

the one i lean on for support

the one, my sparring partner,

my cushy pillow

the one who is my best friend and my gossip buddy

the one whom i'm going to miss terribly when we're miles and hours apart.

from the one who exasperates you frequently

the one who nags you to eat healthily and tighten your seat belt

the one who makes you drive almost all the time

the one, your movie-going buddy,

your ever-willing listener

the one who likes late night phone calls from you

the one who wants to let you know that she loves you.

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!