Haircut
Went to the hairdressers during the weekend. After a quick 10-minute wait, the stylist-in-charge plopped me in front of the mirror and proceeded to rattle off a list of recommendations - ranging from an iron press to curls (yucks...not on me!) to a perm (worst still) to highlights to treatment, etc.But all I wanted was a simple cut to reduce the length of my tresses, which fell to the middle of my back, to a more manageable chin-length. And I told her so.She repeated my request quite cheerfully on auto-pilot...then took a double take and mouthed carefully again "You want to cut your hair short?"Thinking that the healthy chatter in the salon had hampered her hearing a little, I nodded and gestured with my hands the length I wanted to reduce my hair to. She looked at me as if I were a little kid who did not understand her question yet again and patiently rephrased, "You want to change your hair style to a chin-length bob?"Glad that she had understood my request, I grinned and gave her a thumb's up.This time, her eyes were as wide as saucers. Blinking twice in disbelief, she articulated, "That's quite a few inches...are you really sure you want to cut your hair?"Yes woman!!!! Otherwise, why would I bother entering your shop!! - I fought to camouflage my irritability. As exasparated as I was, it was definitely not a good time to be enemies with a person who was wielding a pair of scissors just millimetres away from my head. So, I affirmed for the last time, loud and clear, "Yes, I want my hair to be about chin length". She shrugged and gave me a look which read "Wierdo - death wish granted" and went about doing what I wanted done.What's the big deal with long hair anyway?? Yeah, granted that it takes time to grow, I've never actually felt too much of an attachment to mine. I suppose, most of my life, I have been used to short hair styles. I have only kept it this long now because:- I have been too lazy to get it cut in the past, er...,11 months
- The first and last hair straightening job I got conned to do in early January 2005 cost me a bomb...and be darn I was gonna chop all that expensively treated hair off so soon
- I didn't fancy wearing some fake hair/ wig for my wedding - I mean what if it fell off in the middle of things?
But at the moment, I feel like keeping it short again. It's cooler, hair dries faster after late night showers, less hair dropping around the house (i.e. translates to less need to vacuum quite so often)...hehhehehehe...nice. Bonus point being I think I look a little younger too with short hair - not a bad thing at all!!!
Woke up for work this morning and was immediately reminded of the main woe for short hair which I have not been plagued by for the past year: Hair sticking out when/where it shouldn't!Oh well...you can't win all the time!
Christmas memories I
It all started with my housemate who was a medical student attached to the Southampton General Hospital for a training stint. One evening, whilst we were nursing steaming mugs of tea, she had proposed that we bring some yuletide cheer by carolling in the children's cancer ward. We spread the word amongst friends, roping in those who were interested in participating in this little venture for a laugh, and ended up with a mixed bag of about 10 - 15 people. We only had two evenings of practice and backed by a guitar, I can honestly vouch we weren't exactly voices of angels! In fact, we had actually thought twice about buying and distributing Christmas candy to the kids in fear those sweeties would be flung back at us in an attempt to shut us up! But risk it we did....and luckily, things turned out alright. The children were forgiving (bless them!) and gamely beamed, cheered and sang along with us. It was a fun afternoon for everyone and such a runaway success we were that we were requested to carol round all the wards the following years after! In fact, in my final year at university, we even received an invitation to christmas carol in a nearby prison! Odd request which was mulled over thoroughly...but we reasoned out why not? Safety was assured and the prisoners were human beings too...and yes, it was Christmas after all. Plus, most of us were curious to see what the inside of a high security prison was like, of course, with the option of leaving at free will later...hahahahaha The visit was certainly no laughing matter. The building was imposing, security was tight. We walked in single file, through a door with steel bars, which opened and clanged shut ever so quickly, cutting an individual off from the rest of the line to be body searched by the prison warden on duty. Once you were cleared, another door with steel bars opened and you were then officially in prison grounds. The prisoners who attended the Christmas event we carolled at were supposedly selected for having been on good behaviour for a period of time, and hence were unlikely to be a social threat. However, as some were apparently serving time for heinous crimes committed, they were still not allowed direct contact with any of us. Nevertheless, it was still pretty unnerving - its rather difficult to carol cheerfully whilst observing the mixed reactions of the inmates in attendance...most were normal, but there were some creepy ones who glared on with nary a smile but instead had stony piercing eyes boring holes right through you. On the other extreme, there were those who also stared and stared but were grinning so widely (or was bordering on leering? maybe it was just psychological) that made some of us girls just shift around uncomfortably To be frank, I was glad when the carolling session finished. An unorthodox Christmas experience it was, and admittedly, paranoia and prejudice aside...I am certainly in no hurry to return!
Christmas memories
Growing up in a Chinese home which ensures that incense is offered to the deity and ancestral tablets precisely at 7a.m. and 5p.m. daily (unless we weren't home), it is of little surprise that I had hardly any worthy memories of Christmas as a kid. Of course, even back then, Christmas was already commercialised - think Christmas carols blaring in Sungai Wang and unbelievably soft Metrojaya teddy bears priced so astronomically that any sneaky cuddles would warrant stern admonishment from mum, lest we had to purchase the bear if I soiled it!I went overseas with the preconceived notion that Christmas for a non-Christian student was probably pretty much the same non-event, save for the colder weather, and if lucky, snow. I was wrong - I left England three years later with much much more.
Flowers for the lady
Most women love to receive presents....yeah rite, and like men don't!
The lass above made the front pages of a leading national newspaper yesterday...not by saving the world, not by having that large 3-D heart-shaped flower thingy explode in her pretty face because it was rigged with explosives by some terrorist cell, but by being the "lucky" recipient of an "unforgettable birthday gift" from her "friendly and caring" suitor. In her own words, so romantic - it's too good to be true!(**rolls eyes upwards** ...yeah, a little sad that journalism is so commercialised that a national daily read by millions resorts to such gimmicks, giving this matter as much, if not more, prominence than groundbreaking news around the world!)
It is undeniably...
amazing to see huge blushing roses blooming in the garden....
breathtaking when a sea of yellow daffodils beckons you to streak across an open field....
delightful when tiny white daisies dot the greens indicating the onset of spring....
cheerful when tall sunflowers nod sleepily at you on a lazy sweltering afternoon....
refreshing when morning glories peek open in glistening dew....
graceful when dainty lady slipper orchids dance in the breeze....
The point being flowers are most pretty when they are alive!
What good is 999 stalks of cut roses in a contraption like the above?!? I'd worry about where to store it! And when the petals wither, I suppose one can set up a stall at the nearby craft market, whiling away the weekend selling scented rose potpurri!
And the gift above costs a whopping RM3,500 too!!! Oh gosh...there are soooooo many better ways to spend that amount of cash!!!! Charity, holidays, oh just something useful for goodness sake!
This isnt' a case of sour grapes...it's just common sense, innit?
Shopping frenzy
Cynical me never really believed in freebies....there is no such thing as a free lunch....but with the active buzz round AirAsia's, latest 4th anniversary promotion (my, my...has it been around for 4 years already??)....and having nothing to do one evening, i somehow ended up at its website - tempting advert above staring straight into my face...so why not click and check out if the above were really true? with nothing to lose and time to kill, i clicked...
30 minutes later, I was RM1,000 poorer, attributable to airport tax incurred as a result of purchasing:
- 2 KL-Kuching return tickets for hubby and I in April 06
- 1 KL-Kuching single ticket for my father-in-law in April 06
- 2 KL-Bangkok return tickets for hubby and I in August 06 (in fact, this was for Merdeka weekend - a public holiday...woot!!)
- 2 KL-Macau return tickets for mum and dad in September 06 (apt retirement gift, I suppose)
- 3 KL-Kota Kinabalu return tickets for mum, dad and grandpa in October 06
Bargain right!??!!?!!
Was so hyped up the entire night and when I told mum and grandpa about the holiday plans made on their behalf for Sept - Oct 2006, they were so excited that they started ringing the KK hotels that very night to check on availability!! hahahahahahah
Anyways, its an early Christmas this year and a great headstart for 2006
And for the incumbent, to choose to announce its "inevitable" hike on ticket prices , just one week after the underdog has put on offer so many free seats...hahahaha...truly a screaming marketing/ public relations fiasco if there ever was one. Desperate times calls for desperate measures, I suppose
KISS
In view of the "helplessness" of the condo management and security with respect to the recent spate of break-ins, some proactive neighbours are taking things into hand by banding together to form a neighbourhood watch.Whilst I applaud them for their community spirit and volunteerism, I can't help but opine that surely there must be a more effective way than this?Why should we risk our own safety to patrol the corridors at ungodly hours when we are footing monthly maintenance fees which covers security expenses? Will it not be more effective to "manage and monitor" rather than to "personally execute" ...after all the security guards are trained (I hope) to respond effectively should a situation turn nasty.Plus, it should be noted that the break-ins all occured in the afternoons/ evenings...when most of us are away at work.....so despite that trend, is it worth patrolling when the culprits daren't or have no plans to strike? Perhaps, by partaking in the watch, some feel better at having exerted some kind of effort in safeguarding their homes.To me, I feel it is more important that everyone around chips in on simple things like:a) being responsible for the security of your own home - upgrade your locks, install cctvs if you feel the need tob) get to know your neighbours c) be alert and cautious always d) report suspicious individuals/events to security prontoInsignificant measures of much lesser glory as opposed to a grand-scale "neighbourhood watch" - but nevertheless, I still believe, would be more effective. The KISS concept comes to mind.I, for one, have no intention of taking up a second job at zilch pay to walk the quiet hallways of my condo in the wee hours of the night.
Sitting duck
As it is work is such a pain....now this!There has been a spate of thefts in the condo where I'm staying in. let's see...a total of 10-15 cases in the last month!....the 7 break-in's last saturday evening must have been some kind of record by any standardsModus operandi seems to be as follows:- Call house to see if anyone is around
- If no one answers call, survey type of grille and lock of the condo
- If there is no clamp, cut off "ears" to iron grille which holds the lock
- If there is a clamp, break it
- If there is too much noise breaking the clamp, pick the lock
- Then break lock on main door and proceed to take anything of fancy
Damn these people...lowly scum....And how not to be worried....my in-laws (who are on vacation in KL at the moment) have reported UFO phone calls every morning and afternoon in the past 2 weeks....doesn't prove much...but definitely raises suspicion that my unit is being observed....damn, damn, damn
Sorting Hat
Am devastated...has been decided that i am merely a:
Which Hogwarts house will you be sorted into?
Only consolation is it seems to have been a close call
Indepth score:
Hufflepuff - 14
Ravenclaw - 13
Gryffindor - 12
Slytherin - 6
PS: pray may i ask what "harkworking" is....hehehehehehe
