Kuching Inspirations

Kuching Trip 13th - 19th June 2010

Things I Miss (in no particular order)

# Filipino Soaps - Gone are the days of warm afternoons sitting in front of the boob tube watching Sana'y Wala Nang Wakas, Mula Sa Puso, Kay Tagal Kang Hinintay...

# My Late Paternal Grandmother - Dita binti Cartney, you will always be remembered. RIP~

# Gramma's Friday Sambal Telur - Coming home from school every Friday and greeted with the her sweet and hot sambal telur. Boiled eggs halved and put in sambal... No one makes it like you...

# The very first, original Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers - Mastodon (Black), Pterodactyl (Pink), Triceratops (Blue), Sabretooth Tiger (Yellow) and Tyrannosaurus (Red). Followed later by the Green Ranger. The very cartoon that started my childhood obsession with dinosaurs and the Prehistoric ages.

# Having Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon and Disney Channel on Astro - First it was CN, with Powerpuff Girls, Dexter's Lab, Cow and Chicken and others. Then the new wave of cartoons moved in and pushed those cartoons off the mainstream. Remember the time when CN would end at 9pm and there would be an old movies channel taking over? After CN, I fell in love with Nickelodeon. All That, The Amanda Show, Hey Arnold! (practically spurred my love for jazz music), The Wild Thornberrys, and the show where they shoot contestants with green slime. Disney started off later, with me watching That's So Raven and occasionally the Disney Movie (when I'm interested in it)

# Primary School Days - representing the school in various competitions; a storytelling competition, fully-clad in a bright yellow deer suit for "The Golden Deer" (snagged FIRST Place) and Arabian attire for "Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves" (grabbed second). Later on going for BM Grammar competition and getting 1st place for Lahad Datu District (followed by 11th place at state level). Poster-drawing competitions: Peace Posters, State Library-sponsored annual events. Bringing the school and the self glory gives a sense of achievement and pride...

# High School Days - Friends GALORE... Crazy times, bad decisions, mundane routines... Plenty of fun times, lovely teachers, hanging out at the teachers' lounge to chat with teachers, afternoon tuition classes, tonnes of homework...

# My late maternal grandmother and grandfather - Chin Mui Yun and Chai Thien Fook, respectively. RIP...

Those Were The Days...~

Random Thoughts

- It's SO HOT in Lahad Datu, especially the afternoons - it is so hot that waking up from an afternoon nap with the fan aiming at you still results in profuse sweating...hurrrmmm~

- PLENTY of mother's love...there's nothing like MOTHER'S LOVE. So I've decided to put (part of) my diet to the back burner and have plenty of mum's lovely cooking... Within reason, of course...

- It's astounding how fast the 5GB bandwidth limit can be exceeded when you have three person (me, my brother and my sister) playing three Facebook games each.

- Slept at around 7.30pm and woke up at 9pm tonight - and now I can't go to sleep because of it. Midnight workouts are in order~

- Channeled Allison Iraheta...You'll know what I mean in a few days' time.

- Missing all the old stuff of childhood - homework, uniforms, weekday routine, riding the school bus, cartoons, hanging out with friends on the weekends.

- Missing the hectic life of a university student too - at least I have something to do.

- Can't wait to get my hands on a DSLR of my own... I hope they still sell it by the time I get my money.

- I. WANT. MONEY.

- Spent the five-day long weekend (Wesak Friday plus weekends plus Kaamatan substitution holidays basically doing nothing. Babysat two cousins, and KK plans were a bust. Semporna too. UGH...

Of Annoying Procedures and Cold Shoulders

IT WAS HELL, BUT SOMEONE'S GOTTA DO IT.

Finally I pulled myself up and out to go get my MyKad reported as missing. It was so tedious, as told by the inefficient police officer. One look at that beer gut shows how inefficient he was - not to mention how high up he was. Belly width correlates with position in ANY uniformed force.

We had to go to HQ to report it missing, get a signed piece of paper verifying that I honestly lost my MyKad, then go back to one of the police stations to lodge a report. When I say lodge, it truly means LODGE; you had to make yourself truly visible (i.e. stand at the front desk, not sitting down primly waiting for your turn) in order to get any one officer's attention. THAT'S HOW BAD THE SERVICE WAS. This is not like what I've encountered in West Malaysia. At that time, there were only TWO officers present that time, and still, they managed to squeeze in a polite "Encik, sila tunggu sebentar ye". Today there were FIVE officers, three of which were doing nothing official. Even squeezing a smile out of them would require an effort.

Finally they took down my report, asked me to return on the 2nd of June to get the official printout, and I was off. I was keeping my cool and sanity the whole time; I was keeping happy thoughts, like Jaini and Jasnita's (my cousins) laughing faces in my mind. Returning on the 2nd of June was also dumb; what does the long weekend of Kaamatan holidays have to do with police tasks? That report should be prepared this afternoon, the latest being tomorrow. Crime never sleeps. The police shouldn't too.

Overall, I'm not really satisfied with the tedious procedures and the service. This is my POV.

Prologue Episode 2

She went with the latter. Emma grabbed her Birkin on the way out of the apartment. She took out her phone to check for text messages from Julia. Julia Ackerman was her best pal since college, sharing the same faculty but in different courses. Now Julia works as a fashion coordinator for Marion-Claude, a prestigious fashion magazine. Emma works in the same place too, as the assistant fashion editor. As usual, Julia’s naughty messages put a smile on her face.

Hope the Big O put a Big Smile on your face last night! Morning M!

Emma paid the driver and climbed out of the taxi. Marion-Claude’s black marble and chrome sign greeted her. So did Julia, who was leaning on a column of the building entrance.

Julia stood up and walked over to Emma. Julia’s burgundy sheath dress flowed like liquid as the breeze caressed it. She made the feminine ensemble edgy by pairing it with white knee length boots and some chunky accessories.

‘Fred’s?’ Julia asked, referring to their usual breakfast spot.

‘No, let’s have some fast food today.’ Emma suggested McDonald’s.

‘Okay.’

Over hash browns and black coffee they talked about many things; their conquest last night, what happened at home and at work, among others. Although meeting every single day, breakfast lunch and sometimes dinner (if they’re having dinner) they never ran out of topics to talk about. Finishing up their coffee and refilling it for the road, they headed back to the office.

Once in her office, Emma sat down and pushed the button for her assistant. ‘Dan, give me my agenda for today.’

Daniel knocked on the door. Emma murmured a “come in”. Daniel sat down in front of her and went through the planner.

‘You have a meeting with Abigail about the models she chose for the underwater shoot at ten. Turns out three out of six of the models can’t swim. That’s your ten o’clock.’ Emma nodded. Daniel Henriksson has been Emma’s assistant for only six months and she was already impressed by his efficiency. A handsome lad with a toss of fiery red hair cropped short, his handsomeness was further accentuated by the Prada suit he was wearing today.

‘And a lunch appointment with Blake Lively about the centerfold shoot for M-C at Le Fleur de Montaigne at one, followed by an afternoon for you to oversee the shoot. Oh, at five you have an appointment with the mani-pedi with Miss Ackerman.’ Daniel snapped the planner close.

‘Thanks Dan,’ Emma smiled. She suddenly remembered something and rummaged through her Birkin. SHe handed a crumpled receipt to her assistant.

‘Can you pick up my black Badgley Mischka dress from the dry cleaners?’

‘Sure, Miss Caville.’ Dan took the receipt and closed the door behind him. Quite a leisurely Monday, Emma thought to herself. She turned on her laptop to check her email. Her personal email was filled with Facebook notifications, and the occasional Astrology reading; her business email was filled with feedback about fashion trends, model dossiers, mail from designers about their new line of clothing. Taking notes about these, she reminded herself to inform Dan of these things.

The day went by smoothly. Minimal problems at the shoot; Blake was a doll, but the photographer was a tad green. Nevertheless, he fulfilled Emma’s vision. Thanking Blake for the lovely shoot, she left the studio and headed upstairs. Emma liked taking the stairs; it gave her a workout and besides, the studio was only two floors down. She fished out her phone from her bag. Emma called Julia to remind her of the 5 o'clock appointment.

‘Won’t miss it for the world.’ Julia replied cheerfully.

to be continued~