When I grow up I want to be...
Remember those essays you wrote in school on what you want to be when you grow up?I recall writing long essays about wanting to be a doctor and lawyer (because these are "respectable" professions and all kids of my generation at some point in their lifes must have "wanted" to grow up to be these or something equally as respectable- if boring). Funnily, I also remember telling my mom I wanted to be a librarian. Haha. Cause I loved to read and I thought that being surrounded by more books then I could ever imagine reading would be a dream come true.How different things have turned out! Today, I'm neither a doctor, lawyer nor a librarian and thank God for that! =DSince it's a rainy Sunday and I'm feeling whimsical, I thought I'd write about what I'd want to be today, if I ever have the chance.Perhaps I'd like to become a scripwriter for Hollywood like Adele Lim. Her name ring a bell? Maybe because she used to write a weekly column for The Star's Youth 2. I always looked forward to reading her column when I was in school. She now writes scripts for TV series like One Tree Hill, John Doe and Las Vegas in Los Angeles! Wonder if they need writers with some medical knowledge for the scripts of Grey's Anatomy or ER? How cool it would be if I could write for them and see my name in the credits of series that I love and see people enjoying them and relating to the characters!Maybe I could be a professional photographer and own a cool DSLR camera that I use with practiced ease. One with the amazing talent and skill capable of framing the quintessence of a moment in a single snapshot. And have my work displayed in classy art galleries in New York with VIPs and superstars clamouring to buy my fabulous framed photographs or have me photograph them at special events. Speaking about photos (fantasies aside), check out my Bali trip photos here, taken with my new PowerShot A710. =D
Or maybe a luxury travel magazine would pay me to visit and write about fantastic places in Europe, Japan, US and house me in 5-star hotels with all their luxurious ammenities to use at my disposal. Or maybe, I should just find a filthy rich, good-looking Hollywood movie-director husband who loves me tons. So I wouldn't need to work at all and yet, be able to dabble in all of the above at my own leisure. Haha.
If you ask me now what I want to be when I grow up, I'd succinctly sum it up in a single word. Happy.
But can happiness be a state of concious choice? Because it'll be easy if it were.
Making my every shot, a power shot!
I finally bought myself a digital camera after months of reading online reviews, asking people's opinion and checking out prices.
I decided on a Canon PowerShot A710 IS which was one of my original choices. Figures eh! After all the deliberation, I'd settle on what I wanted to get in the first place. Heehee. Should have just saved time and bought it in the first place right? But then, where's the fun in buying it then?!! ;)The A710 IS is not one of the slimmest nor sleekest cameras around town but I like the solid grip of it in my hands. Plus it has full manual controls for me to tinker and experiment with! I'm very happy!I haven't actually tested my camera's capabilities to the fullest yet, but I'm sure I'll get the chance to do so in my upcoming trip! I can't wait! I'm so excited...for both! *grins*
Some test shots. Glaring bright sunlight required some tinkering with the manual functions =D And then I also played around a bit with the colour accent functions, choosing to highlight only green.
Sixth sense
"I should have an accident."
Eerily enough, a lorry hit my car while I was stuck in a jam on the North-South Highway, just after the Bidor exit.
Luckily it wasn't too serious, just a huge dent in my car's bumper and at least, I could still drive my car home. And I'm fine physically, which I suppose, is the most important thing.
Superhero
There are times when you feel you are invincible. When health is rosy and the money's good, it seems like nothing or no one on Earth and this dimension can stop your purpose, that you can go out and conquer the world, just by the sheer force of your youthful determination, dynamism and idealism. And then suddenly, you get a jolt, an awakening or in some cases, a dull, throbbing pain as if sharp daggers are carving at the pit that is your abdomen, reminding you that you are merely human. That there is a finite threshold to how much you can do, how much pain you can withstand, how much hurt your heart can contain. And in the vulnerability of the moment, you realize, that some problems just cannot be solved no matter how much you work at it, push it, force it or will it to go away. And in that moment, and just that moment alone, you know that superheores live only in the flight of fancies in pages of comic books and on movie screens.The moment passes, as all moments inevitably do, and you stubbornly cling to your delusions in oblivion. Note: Reminder to myself- I'm no superhero!
Shopping for a baby
Project Bumming #2 (ref no: PB 002)
A friend-accquaintance just gave birth to a baby girl so PL and I decided to chip in for a gift for the new mom. And since I'm free now, the task fell to me but I don't really mind since it involves shopping. =D
At first I thought of getting the baby some toys, cool gadgets or something like that...But PL said, are you sure the baby knows how to play with it now. I said, it's for use in the future.(start them young, right?) and that the baby would surely need something to play with. But she didn't seem enthusiastic and we kinda left that discussion open.
At the Anakku shop in The Curve (I think it's new since I've never seen it before and it's pretty big) there were so many choices of things to buy! I don't shop often for babies, of course. But the array of toys, teeny clothes, CDs of songs, baby toiletries really staggered me- rattles in weird shapes, feeding bottles of different sizes, toys I'm not sure how to play with myself.
After browsing happily but aimlessly for a bit, I decided I'd better settle for familiar ground ie, clothes!
I bought the baby a whole matching suit of clothes from a top in yellow with tiny ducks and matching bottom and also mittens for the feet and hands with teensy bows on them and a little cap. Since it was a baby girl, pink was the natural first choice for colour of clothes. Then I decided that it wasn't good to enforce gender stereotypes at such a tender age! Haha. So I settled for yellow which is a cheery, neutral colour. But do you think though, if the baby is all bundled up in the outfit, it'll look like a giant banana? Well, at least it'll be a cute one ...
I also threw in a pack of wet wipes because it's practical and I'm sure there will be some use for it. The lady gift wrapped items for me rather attractively for me and if was all free except for the wrapping paper. So if you ever need to shop for a baby and have no clue what to get, ask me for advice! I charge only nominal fees like a cuppa mocha at Starbucks or the like.*grin*
I can cook, so can you!
Project Bumming #001 (ref no: PB 001)
Yesterday, I had an unusual urge to cook something! I know, me, wanting to cook? It's like...hahaha. But I've realized that cooking can be quite pleasant when you have all the time in the world and nothing worrying you at the back of your mind.
I decided to cook pasta and porkchops. Simple, healthy and foolproof even for me. =D
I bought the fresh produce, pictured above, at Carefour MidValley. Estimated cost, about RM 14. Serves 3 people with medium appetites. Preparation time 45 mins. Cooking time 1 hour 15 mins.
First things first, I marinated the pork chops with soy sauce, oyster sauce, a pinch of sugar, dash of pepper and inspirationally, a tablespoon of Maggi chilli sauce. Then popped them into the fridge for about one hour and a half.
Next, came the dicing- carrots, peppers, onions and tomatoes. All nicely chopped up...
Pan frying the pork chops in olive oil. As an after thought, I threw in a handful of chopped onions for extra zing. At the same time, I boiled the pasta, about two microwave-containers full.
Sauteeing the veggies. After frying the onions till fragrant, I dumped in all the veg together. But I think the tomatoes should have gone in first as they should be mushy and also the bell peppers lost their vibrant colours after being in the pan for too long.
After that it was simply adding the pasta sauce, warming it and serving...
Yummy...the meal tasted good. Even my 'guinea pig' said so. Heehee.
But I really, really need a camera that will give me a better macro shot than the last pix taken with my phone! I'm working on it! =D
Busy, busy, busy
Dearest friends and annonymous readers of my blog,Hi, how have you all been? Sorry I haven't been updating for a bit. But I've been busy, busy, busy! Right after I came back from my CNY break till now, there has been no break for me! I'll explain a bit more on that later.For me, CNY was the usual orgy of cookies, rich food, gambling, aunties trying to extract information from you about your personal dating habits and catching up with my cousins. All my "little" cousins are so big now! 19, 15 and 13 respectively. I remember all three of them as wee newborns! OMG, two of them are even taller than me now! In a few years time, I think we will be able to share a lot more personal stuff other than what nice new Disney animation there is to watch at the cinema or which latest Nintendo game is the coolest. (Note: Nintendo Wii tennis is really fun, maybe because I happen to be quite good at it. Haha. But a reminder: Don't forget your wrist straps! Accidents have happened!) I really look forward to when I can talk to my cousins about "grown up" stuff! Oh this CNY we had the greatest time playing Cranium! Haha, I love that game, because it showcases everyone's talents be it in drawing, general knowledge, acting or word play, plus it's heaps of fun! I also have two really little cousins that are so fun to play with and tease, aged 4 and 1 year old respectively. Haha, OMG, there's about twenty years age gap between me and them! I feel old! HELP!Oh, exciting news on the 3rd day of CNY! On the same day,I found out that one of my close secondary school classmates is pregnant with her first child, and also, that my roommate in colleage is dating a fab guy who happens to be someone I've work with before. And, I was the one who introduced them! Haha, I'm no Cupid, but I'm really happy for both of my dearest girlfriends!All in all, CNY was great fun, but I think it was much more festive when my grandfather was still around and we had the annual lion dance at his house along with the over-consumption of soft drinks and White Rabbit sweets with the "Garfield Gang"! I miss that!Here are some pictures of this my CNY celebration this year:
Black Jack! I win! Must be the mandarin orange I used to keep my stash of money from flying away bringing me extra luck! Hee..
Festive cookies, uncles, aunties and a baby
Pig stomach for soup on 2nd day of CNY. Seriously. I thought of telling my relatives to "Have some guts!" but figured I'd better not. :)
"Loh Sang" for prosperity, longetivity, family togetherness and good luck
My 19-year old cousin's pet dwarf hamster, Zoe. The little furry critter is so cute! Warm and wriggly. Made me feel like going straight out and buy a hamster for myself...only thing is I'm afraid the little creature won't be able to endure neglect when I'm busy and forget to feed it or change the litter. So no hamster for me! :(
I beat the jam driving back to KL after CNY by leaving Ipoh at 7am! Hehe. A breeze driving home and I made it back to PJ by 9am. My last week at my ex-job was hectic, but none more so than usual. I think I've gotten numb to the work and just went about the motions like a robot. I'll sincerely miss all my friends at my old workplace. And they were so sweet. Treating me to a scrumptious farewell lunch at Victoria Station and cheese cake from Secret Recipe and presenting me with a Borders prepaid card. Thanks once again if any of you all are reading this!
"With best wishes" on the cake.They wanted to sing Auld Lang Syne but I'm glad they broke of half way into the first verse...Too emo and sad!
Celebrated my last day at my old job with mocha that not only tasted nice, but looked nice too at Bakerzin. Also had some amazing dessert thingy called a chocolate souffle with thyme ice cream! You've got to try it if you haven't already (and have a sweet tooth)! It's out of this world!
And then the Monday after my last day at my old job, it was off for training with my new company. I just got back from a one day trip to Johor yesterday, where I bumped into a certain citrus-y someone at the airport. ;) The 2 and 1/2 days intensive training was really information overload for me! My brain hurts with all the new information and skills I'll have to pick up in my new job! But it's also very, very exciting and interesting! I'm resolving to give it my best shot. As a colleague told me, if it dosen't work out, I can start over again. Not the end of the world.
So here I am today, sitting in Starbucks at the Curve, typing this on my laptop. I've been here over two hours with a venti soy latte and I've changed places once, snagging a nice spot with a comfy sofa from a middle-age uncle. There are many people at here at Starbucks and Borders, which leads me to wonder, don't people have to work anymore nowadays?!!! Or are jobs now becoming more and more flexible or these people are all happily between jobs, like me? Or better still, they don't need to work anymore?!
I'm glad that it was fairly easy for me to find a new job. I thank my parents for giving me a good education and insisting and not budging (despite my tears, tantrums) on many things that I resented then but understand now. Sometimes I think I'm becoming more and more like my parents although I've resolved countless times not to be. How leh??
Have some free time on hand before I become a nameless, faceless participant in the endless rat race again. I'd better make good use of it, I think. Shop around for a new digital camera, enroll in some yoga class, take up a photography class, learn absailing, take up cooking , take up scuba diving classes...(the last few are suggestions from a friend on MSN. Hehe) Or maybe I'll just be a bum. Professional bummer. Hmm, I like the sound of it! Think it'll do any good for my CV though? Heehee.
Alrighty. Will sign off this looooooooong entry here. Keep checking this site for more exciting updates!
Cheerio,
Me
p/s if there are any spelling or grammatical errors, forgive me. But, I'm not an editor anymore!! Haha...Just don't be a pest and point them out to me ;)
