I have always wondered what kinda lives my parents led when they were younger, our age. What did they do? What mistakes did they make? What stupidity that is so embarrassing they would not even consider telling us?
They are not one to divulge information of the lives they led. All this while, they provided mere snapshots to the past, a blurry image, devoid of focus and details. Just the bare bones of structure. Maybe that's why i do not share much with them.
I do tell them stuff but not overly personal stuff, emotional stuff, deep dark secrets kinda stuff.
It's ironic to think that i've been with them for 18 years and i do not know much about their previous lives. It's even more ironic that i've lived with my host parents for 6 months and i seem to know much more about them than i do with my own parents.
Maybe i'm exaggerating but it just feels that way. My parents are definitely no strangers to me, i know their behavioral tendencies and their mood swings and all but all these started from the day i was born.
Once in a while if they see something that reminds them of their past, only will they talk. These screenings are very rare.
It's like looking into a blur kaleidescope really.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Friday, November 20, 2009
Life and Death
The car was cruising along the rode with 60 km/h.
"Turn left." she said.
I turned. I cut across two lanes and was preparing to straighten my car.
"Wrong lane."
I panicked. I swerved the car back to my right. Chaos ensued. The right tire escaped unscathed but the left tire suffered a different fate.
There was a loud bang, and i felt the car tipping towards the left and the car was now in an elevated position. A strange calm settled over me. My sister swore really loudly and her mobile phone landed on my lap.
I was stunned for a moment. The car progressed forward in slowly but the screeching of metal with concrete was apparent.
Then it halted. I sat there, the strange calmness still dictating my every move and motion.
"Try to move forward." my sister said in a very strained voice.
I did. The car moved, the left tire resumed contact with the tar road and it crawled a few inch forward. There was a strained groan and we stopped.
We climbed out of the car, wanting to assess the damage. Silently, i was praying nothing bad happened but things turned out otherwise.
The left tire in front was wrecked. The rim cracked and the tire was flat. The bearing was off. At that moment, reality started to sink in. Piece by piece as the calm receded.
There were no flashes of images, no playbacks of my life greatest moment, just a loud resounding bang that reverberated in my brain. It was a miracle that we are ok, very lucky. It was a busy stretch of road and thank god, the car behind us managed to steer away.
There were no casualties, but i can't say the same for the car. My sister took control of the situation and called the insurance company then my dad. I was just standing there, starting to feel panic crawling up my spine.
Elaine came to our rescue and so did the driver of the car that nearly knocked into us. There's always a silver lining behind those dark clouds. Took 2 hours of waiting and a very friendly KAA Rider to finally tow away the "old man" to the workshop.
My dad was enraged, naturally, but he has yet to unleash his fury upon me and my sister. We might have to scrap the car if they can't find the require spare parts and if it's too expensive to put it back together.
I am thankful to be alive, thankful that nobody got hurt but very shaken.
Very shaken to tell the truth. I was near breaking down when i realized the immensity of the whole situation, assessing the possibility, where if luck wasn't by our side, we'd be in a hospital or ended up taking someone's life.
Trying to stay calm right now seems like a very normal thing to do but i can't shake the sinking feeling in my gut. I feel guilty and traumatized. This is not a minor dent into the back of some else's car. This is bordering a major accident that could possibly happen.
What if the car flipped? What if the car behind us crashed into us? What if there was a motorcyclist nearby?
Anything could have happened within that split second when i crashed into the divider. I could have ended up with bloods on my hand due to my inexperience driving skills. I don't think i can live with that.
I don't think i can bring myself to drive again anytime soon. The prospect kinda scares me now.
Sigh. Am hoping nothing bad happens to the car, it's old but it's sturdy and i'm becoming sorta fond of it already.
"Turn left." she said.
I turned. I cut across two lanes and was preparing to straighten my car.
"Wrong lane."
I panicked. I swerved the car back to my right. Chaos ensued. The right tire escaped unscathed but the left tire suffered a different fate.
There was a loud bang, and i felt the car tipping towards the left and the car was now in an elevated position. A strange calm settled over me. My sister swore really loudly and her mobile phone landed on my lap.
I was stunned for a moment. The car progressed forward in slowly but the screeching of metal with concrete was apparent.
Then it halted. I sat there, the strange calmness still dictating my every move and motion.
"Try to move forward." my sister said in a very strained voice.
I did. The car moved, the left tire resumed contact with the tar road and it crawled a few inch forward. There was a strained groan and we stopped.
We climbed out of the car, wanting to assess the damage. Silently, i was praying nothing bad happened but things turned out otherwise.
The left tire in front was wrecked. The rim cracked and the tire was flat. The bearing was off. At that moment, reality started to sink in. Piece by piece as the calm receded.
There were no flashes of images, no playbacks of my life greatest moment, just a loud resounding bang that reverberated in my brain. It was a miracle that we are ok, very lucky. It was a busy stretch of road and thank god, the car behind us managed to steer away.
There were no casualties, but i can't say the same for the car. My sister took control of the situation and called the insurance company then my dad. I was just standing there, starting to feel panic crawling up my spine.
Elaine came to our rescue and so did the driver of the car that nearly knocked into us. There's always a silver lining behind those dark clouds. Took 2 hours of waiting and a very friendly KAA Rider to finally tow away the "old man" to the workshop.
My dad was enraged, naturally, but he has yet to unleash his fury upon me and my sister. We might have to scrap the car if they can't find the require spare parts and if it's too expensive to put it back together.
I am thankful to be alive, thankful that nobody got hurt but very shaken.
Very shaken to tell the truth. I was near breaking down when i realized the immensity of the whole situation, assessing the possibility, where if luck wasn't by our side, we'd be in a hospital or ended up taking someone's life.
Trying to stay calm right now seems like a very normal thing to do but i can't shake the sinking feeling in my gut. I feel guilty and traumatized. This is not a minor dent into the back of some else's car. This is bordering a major accident that could possibly happen.
What if the car flipped? What if the car behind us crashed into us? What if there was a motorcyclist nearby?
Anything could have happened within that split second when i crashed into the divider. I could have ended up with bloods on my hand due to my inexperience driving skills. I don't think i can live with that.
I don't think i can bring myself to drive again anytime soon. The prospect kinda scares me now.
Sigh. Am hoping nothing bad happens to the car, it's old but it's sturdy and i'm becoming sorta fond of it already.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
November Fun
The All American Reject Concert
This is my second time seeing them and it happened in less than 4 months. I sure as hell preferred MTV World Stage Live mainly because of the variety of performances and the crowd ethics that people adhered to.
The waits between acts was far too long for my liking. I have no problem being patient it's just that, your patience wears thin really quickly when you are in the midst of all the pushing and jostling.
People from the back, especially the rempits, were making their way to the front, without a care for those who queued up way early to get to where we were. An "excuse me" or a "sorry" would be greatly appreciated.
There was this bunch that tried to forced their way to the front and they pushed the girls, well, our girls. We got defensive and kinda ganged up on them. Forming a barricade, making it hellishly hard to get to the front. They were super rude and my temper was flaring.
I am a fan on concerts but being crowded by way too many people makes me pissy.
AAR was great, they were really great performers but before the took the stage, they left us hanging for 30 minutes or so. It would have been bearable if they played us songs through the wide screen thingy that was next to the stage but no. They had to repeat the same montage of videos, a mix of Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga and a few other artists.
It annoyed me to no end.
Before they took the stage i was swearing, yelling colorful words out at them. I was effing pissed and my legs were tired.
When they came on, i would have really appreciated it if they apologized for making us wait, but such courtesy seemed to have slipped from their minds. Not a great way to entertain your fans AAR.
All i can say is that, it was a crazy night. Filled with ups and downs and by the time i got home, i was dead tired. Showered and just flopped onto the bed and woke up at 10 in the morning.
1. Concert buddies
2. Hard yellow digi blow me tubes ;)
3. The stage.
4. Me looking disgusted with the sea of people that i was stuck in.
5.
6.
Malaysia International Fashion Week 2009
This event got me really excited. I was choreographing which pieces from my wardrobe to wear to Deanna's fashion show. Never in my mind did i actually picture myself earning a ticket to Malaysia's one and only fashion week.
Dress code: Chic and stylish.
Coincidentally before this event, i finished ANTM Cycle 12, so watching the models sashay down the runway kinda turned on the Polina-Nigel-Ms.J-Tyra in me. A few models were fierce and the others had pretty ok walks.
Deanna and her sister's design were gorgeous. I loved their designs but maybe i'm just biased. A few others were not so impressive. One collection, it was by Ratu i think, was waaaaaaaaaaay too flowy. The shapes were literally shapeless. It's like she draped a cloth on the model, cut some holes, and voila, fit for the runway.
I'm all for appreciating the womanly curves. To me, dresses need to flaunt the women's body, accentuate the figure, not hide them behind drapes.
But all in all, it was a pretty fun experience. Oh and i just found out that Jaslene, an ANTM winner was in someone else's show.
The crowd was shockingly filled with rich tai tais and affluent datins with badly permed hair and very bad dye jobs x)
1. The runway.
2. The runway again.
3. Me and Bernard
4. Me, Bern and Tyng
5. The aforementioned flow-y design.
6. By bernard chandran and worn by none other than Lady Gaga herself
7. Me and Jan
8. Tyng me and Jan.
9. Me and Tyng.
10. Me and Bern.
June's Party
June invited us over to her place for dinner and since she's a culinary arts student, she was going to cook us a sumptuous feast and she did not disappoint at all. If she ever becomes the next Julia Child, dayumn girl, i'll eat everything you cook :)
But before dinner, i actually arrived at Teri's place at 2 and we were gonna hang out with Cheryl and the others when they come. Oh so conveniently, next to Teri's house they have a stretch of hawker stalls and being Malaysians, eating was a natural choice.
I had a Ramly Burger, cendol and rojak. Damn, i can eat so much more than i usually do these days and i still don't put on weight, not that i'll let that happen. I'm not gonna allow myself to develop an overhanging gut.
After waiting for Nafis and Jim, we walked to June's place from Teri's. Teri said it wasn't far but her definition of that was seriously skewed. It was far. "Nearby" to me means, two streets away. "Nearby " is suppose to mean less than 10 minutes of walking.
After dinner, we kinda chill then decided to play Guitar Hero. It was awesome and thanks to the training i got from Dean with his Wii, i kicked ass. But i can't say so with the drums, i sucked at that.
Nafis drove me home which was really nice of him. But when i got home, nobody was back from the play and i was stuck outside with blood sucking mosquitoes. I forgot my bloody keys :(
Boo! But overall it was a fun week :)
1. Cheryl
2. Me and Teri.
3. Deanna posing with some heavy machinery.
4. Jim with the food June prepared.
5. Playing rockband
This is my second time seeing them and it happened in less than 4 months. I sure as hell preferred MTV World Stage Live mainly because of the variety of performances and the crowd ethics that people adhered to.
The waits between acts was far too long for my liking. I have no problem being patient it's just that, your patience wears thin really quickly when you are in the midst of all the pushing and jostling.
People from the back, especially the rempits, were making their way to the front, without a care for those who queued up way early to get to where we were. An "excuse me" or a "sorry" would be greatly appreciated.
There was this bunch that tried to forced their way to the front and they pushed the girls, well, our girls. We got defensive and kinda ganged up on them. Forming a barricade, making it hellishly hard to get to the front. They were super rude and my temper was flaring.
I am a fan on concerts but being crowded by way too many people makes me pissy.
AAR was great, they were really great performers but before the took the stage, they left us hanging for 30 minutes or so. It would have been bearable if they played us songs through the wide screen thingy that was next to the stage but no. They had to repeat the same montage of videos, a mix of Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga and a few other artists.
It annoyed me to no end.
Before they took the stage i was swearing, yelling colorful words out at them. I was effing pissed and my legs were tired.
When they came on, i would have really appreciated it if they apologized for making us wait, but such courtesy seemed to have slipped from their minds. Not a great way to entertain your fans AAR.
All i can say is that, it was a crazy night. Filled with ups and downs and by the time i got home, i was dead tired. Showered and just flopped onto the bed and woke up at 10 in the morning.
1. Concert buddies
2. Hard yellow digi blow me tubes ;)
3. The stage.
4. Me looking disgusted with the sea of people that i was stuck in.
5.
6.
Malaysia International Fashion Week 2009
This event got me really excited. I was choreographing which pieces from my wardrobe to wear to Deanna's fashion show. Never in my mind did i actually picture myself earning a ticket to Malaysia's one and only fashion week.
Dress code: Chic and stylish.
Coincidentally before this event, i finished ANTM Cycle 12, so watching the models sashay down the runway kinda turned on the Polina-Nigel-Ms.J-Tyra in me. A few models were fierce and the others had pretty ok walks.
Deanna and her sister's design were gorgeous. I loved their designs but maybe i'm just biased. A few others were not so impressive. One collection, it was by Ratu i think, was waaaaaaaaaaay too flowy. The shapes were literally shapeless. It's like she draped a cloth on the model, cut some holes, and voila, fit for the runway.
I'm all for appreciating the womanly curves. To me, dresses need to flaunt the women's body, accentuate the figure, not hide them behind drapes.
But all in all, it was a pretty fun experience. Oh and i just found out that Jaslene, an ANTM winner was in someone else's show.
The crowd was shockingly filled with rich tai tais and affluent datins with badly permed hair and very bad dye jobs x)
1. The runway.
2. The runway again.
3. Me and Bernard
4. Me, Bern and Tyng
5. The aforementioned flow-y design.
6. By bernard chandran and worn by none other than Lady Gaga herself
7. Me and Jan
8. Tyng me and Jan.
9. Me and Tyng.
10. Me and Bern.
June's Party
June invited us over to her place for dinner and since she's a culinary arts student, she was going to cook us a sumptuous feast and she did not disappoint at all. If she ever becomes the next Julia Child, dayumn girl, i'll eat everything you cook :)
But before dinner, i actually arrived at Teri's place at 2 and we were gonna hang out with Cheryl and the others when they come. Oh so conveniently, next to Teri's house they have a stretch of hawker stalls and being Malaysians, eating was a natural choice.
I had a Ramly Burger, cendol and rojak. Damn, i can eat so much more than i usually do these days and i still don't put on weight, not that i'll let that happen. I'm not gonna allow myself to develop an overhanging gut.
After waiting for Nafis and Jim, we walked to June's place from Teri's. Teri said it wasn't far but her definition of that was seriously skewed. It was far. "Nearby" to me means, two streets away. "Nearby " is suppose to mean less than 10 minutes of walking.
After dinner, we kinda chill then decided to play Guitar Hero. It was awesome and thanks to the training i got from Dean with his Wii, i kicked ass. But i can't say so with the drums, i sucked at that.
Nafis drove me home which was really nice of him. But when i got home, nobody was back from the play and i was stuck outside with blood sucking mosquitoes. I forgot my bloody keys :(
Boo! But overall it was a fun week :)
1. Cheryl
2. Me and Teri.
3. Deanna posing with some heavy machinery.
4. Jim with the food June prepared.
5. Playing rockband
Monday, November 9, 2009
Wait, Lemme Catch My Breath
Gym practice yesterday was shocking. Apparently, i'm not as fit as i like. After completing the strength work and doing 15 toe touches followed by 10 pikes, i was a bit woozy.
A bit would be an understatement.
I was catching my breath. It was labored. I took deep breaths, calming my intense heart palpitations. Then i had this feeling in my gut. A want to puke.
It was horrible, i went through such distress that i really thought puking was gonna alleviate my situation. I tried to push myself on but then i heard this ringing in my ears and i started seeing whites.
I sat myself down and after a few moments of brief pain, i calmed down and recovered.
It was shocking to say the least, i never ever felt so terrible. Not even after track practice a few months back, and that was intense.
Oh well. On the bright side, i did a back handspring. Assisted of course but it was great.
A bit would be an understatement.
I was catching my breath. It was labored. I took deep breaths, calming my intense heart palpitations. Then i had this feeling in my gut. A want to puke.
It was horrible, i went through such distress that i really thought puking was gonna alleviate my situation. I tried to push myself on but then i heard this ringing in my ears and i started seeing whites.
I sat myself down and after a few moments of brief pain, i calmed down and recovered.
It was shocking to say the least, i never ever felt so terrible. Not even after track practice a few months back, and that was intense.
Oh well. On the bright side, i did a back handspring. Assisted of course but it was great.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Indulging
It has been one week since my first semester in college ended. I am now indulging in all sort of nonsensical activities since i have nothing to do.
I watched countless episodes of Smallville, attended AAR's concert, volunteered at the AFS office, went to a fashion show, courtesy of Deanna Anuar and partied a little with fabulous friends at June's house.
So far, my semester break, which is 2 months long is very eventful but it is bound to hit the rut sometime. Everything will slump into utmost boredom as i cruised the internet, aimless and lost, not knowing what to do.
But i seek comfort in knowing that the next 2 months will not be entirely unfruitful. I'll be gearing myself up for the SATs. I am taking it in January and let's hope i get a 2100. That's what i hope because i really really really hope for a government sponsored scholarship if i could secure a spot in an Ivy League institution.
Looking at the not so bright side, i am still bummed about single handedly killing my chances of securing an A for my English Composition this semester. I am absolutely pissed at myself. I had one of the highest marks for my assignments in class. I was impeccable. I passed my work up on time. I was dedicated. I was, surprise surprise, hardworking. I worked for my A. I wanted that A. But i screwed up on my final paper. I wrote my last essay in the wrong format and that is going to cost me a lot. Best case scenario, i'm expecting an A-. Worst case scenario, it's gonna be a B.
Utter rubbish. Why place so much emphasis on format lah? It's english, you should pay attention to language more.
Sigh. I've been doing some calculating and i'm sad that i won't be getting a 4.0 this semester. Boo hoo.
Oh well, more on the concert and fashion show soon ;)
I watched countless episodes of Smallville, attended AAR's concert, volunteered at the AFS office, went to a fashion show, courtesy of Deanna Anuar and partied a little with fabulous friends at June's house.
So far, my semester break, which is 2 months long is very eventful but it is bound to hit the rut sometime. Everything will slump into utmost boredom as i cruised the internet, aimless and lost, not knowing what to do.
But i seek comfort in knowing that the next 2 months will not be entirely unfruitful. I'll be gearing myself up for the SATs. I am taking it in January and let's hope i get a 2100. That's what i hope because i really really really hope for a government sponsored scholarship if i could secure a spot in an Ivy League institution.
Looking at the not so bright side, i am still bummed about single handedly killing my chances of securing an A for my English Composition this semester. I am absolutely pissed at myself. I had one of the highest marks for my assignments in class. I was impeccable. I passed my work up on time. I was dedicated. I was, surprise surprise, hardworking. I worked for my A. I wanted that A. But i screwed up on my final paper. I wrote my last essay in the wrong format and that is going to cost me a lot. Best case scenario, i'm expecting an A-. Worst case scenario, it's gonna be a B.
Utter rubbish. Why place so much emphasis on format lah? It's english, you should pay attention to language more.
Sigh. I've been doing some calculating and i'm sad that i won't be getting a 4.0 this semester. Boo hoo.
Oh well, more on the concert and fashion show soon ;)
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Deepavali, Festival of Light
While the guys were sleeping on the cold hard floor, the girls took the couch. So i woke up after 2 hours of slumber and was shivering. The window was flung open and the curtains were flapping in the eerie fluorescent glow from the light outside. I heard the familiar sounds of heavy rainfall.
Sigh, it rains all the time now.
I picked myself up and ditched the others and went back to the comforts of my own bed. I curled up and hid under the blankets then falling into deep slumber again. The next time i woke up it was 7 in the morning.
After waking up the other sleeping pigs, we had breakfast and the girls went back to Eva's house to shower and get ready for Sharma's open house.
By the time we got there with Teri and Deanna in tow (they took the train down to Kepong), it was already 12.
It was A LOT OF FUN hanging out with them again. We ate, played Mafia with some of the other exchange students and Sharma bought me and Eva a cake. But by the time he took it out to surprise us, it was pretty mushy from staying out in room temperature.
But oh well :)
1. Deanna and her "kolam"
2. Sharma actually made it with his mom. Didn't know he was so artistic ;)
3. The AFS-ers
4. Jim got really wet from moving the tent
5. The Perera brothers. It has been ages since i last saw Lucian!
6. Crazy dudes
7. Famileeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
8. Everyone's feeding me food these days =S
9. Hilarious picture
10. Mirth
11. Happy
12. Glee
13. Smiles
14. This girl can rock them tudungs ;)
15. Chicas of YES 09
16. No idea why my face was bloated but great candid shot
17. Me and the host
18. Eva see... fa hiao for what x)
19. Teri Campos, father the 2nd "richest" man in Malaysia, inside joke ;)
20. Nafis, his host parents actually gave him a custom made bible knowing he's a muslim.
21. Fiona, she's so pretty!
22. Fiona and Nilo, besties in HELP
23. Lucian
24. Moi
25. Mafia with the exchange students
Sigh, it rains all the time now.
I picked myself up and ditched the others and went back to the comforts of my own bed. I curled up and hid under the blankets then falling into deep slumber again. The next time i woke up it was 7 in the morning.
After waking up the other sleeping pigs, we had breakfast and the girls went back to Eva's house to shower and get ready for Sharma's open house.
By the time we got there with Teri and Deanna in tow (they took the train down to Kepong), it was already 12.
It was A LOT OF FUN hanging out with them again. We ate, played Mafia with some of the other exchange students and Sharma bought me and Eva a cake. But by the time he took it out to surprise us, it was pretty mushy from staying out in room temperature.
But oh well :)
1. Deanna and her "kolam"
2. Sharma actually made it with his mom. Didn't know he was so artistic ;)
3. The AFS-ers
4. Jim got really wet from moving the tent
5. The Perera brothers. It has been ages since i last saw Lucian!
6. Crazy dudes
7. Famileeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
8. Everyone's feeding me food these days =S
9. Hilarious picture
10. Mirth
11. Happy
12. Glee
13. Smiles
14. This girl can rock them tudungs ;)
15. Chicas of YES 09
16. No idea why my face was bloated but great candid shot
17. Me and the host
18. Eva see... fa hiao for what x)
19. Teri Campos, father the 2nd "richest" man in Malaysia, inside joke ;)
20. Nafis, his host parents actually gave him a custom made bible knowing he's a muslim.
21. Fiona, she's so pretty!
22. Fiona and Nilo, besties in HELP
23. Lucian
24. Moi
25. Mafia with the exchange students
Monday, October 26, 2009
18th Decadent Birthday
In a similar but earlier post, i had mentioned that i just turned legal, meaning 18, Malaysian standard. Passing that age pretty much means you can drink legally, you can drive legally, you can club (though at certain clubs only) and not to mention, you can actually enter a sex shop now.
In a way you expect to feel liberated, to feel like shackles that confined you just slip to the ground from you dieting too much until you were so thin it just well, fell away. But sadly, it felt like any other birthday but the only difference - you've passed a milestone in your life. In this case, my life.
I'm 18, single and ready to rule to world. The next birthday i look forward to is my 21st ;)
On the 16th of October, there was supposed to be this surprise party for me. But you know me, i love uncovering surprises. I had this tiny little minuscule feeling that my sister was up to something and true enough i was right.
You know how i found out? I was on facebook on the 16th and commented on something on Sheena's wall. She replied and added something at the end, "I'm sorry i can't come for your thing tonight."
To which i replied, "What thing?"
Then the sirens went off, my sister was planning a surprise party for me. But it got called off last minute because no one could make it at such short notice. The backup plan was to go catch a late night movie at One Utama to usher in my birthday. So my sister rallied in Eva and Vina to come with us.
And so we did. We got out tickets, then had McD's for supper. Eva who was not exposed to the art of eating fries with pepper-sprinkled chili sauce was addicted to it at the end of our food tasting session.
Walking around One Utama at the dead of the night with all the shop close was a tad bit eerie. I've never seen it so empty in my life ever. At one part when we were walking through a dimly lit part of the mall, i was thinking that this was how horror movies were enacted.
Teenagers walking through the mall and some psychopath-cum-slasher-cum-murderer that escaped from a nearby institution will jump out on us and start slitting our throats, gutting out guts and etc. You get what i'm trying to illustrate.
Right when the movie started, 12am sharp, my phone kept buzzing. I got some calls and i got a few texts. It was sweet that my friends actually remembered and waited till 12 before they rang me up or texted me.
Thank you so much :)
Being true to myself and being a diva that i always was, a few of my friends decided to call me a few minutes to an hour before my birthday and i gave them hell about it.
"You are aware of the fact that my birthday is still X minutes away right? So why are you calling now you bitch?"
I know, i know. I'm such a great friend.
Let me just say that The Life of Pippa Lee wasn't really the movie i imagined watching while turning 18. It was, err, different. I fell asleep during the movie. That was a first for me, i never sleep in the cinema. Never ever.
Not even when i was jet lagged and Dean and Stacey dragged me out into the Minnesotan cold weather to watch The Curious Case of Benjamin Button at Grandview theater.
By the time the show ended and we got home, i plopped into bed and slept till 7 in the morning.
Momma and poppa tsantir called through skype and we talked. It was really nice of them and when we just started, Mia barked. My heart was aching when i heard her bark. I miss her!
By the time it was noon, i got ready and headed down to KL for my very badly planned and structured birthday party.
We went all around KL. We wanted to karaoke but the rates of the rooms were outrageously expensive and overpriced. We kinda came up with plans spontaneously. When we walked to Low Yat and figured out that we should go to Pavilion to find out the rates for the room, it was pouring outside.
I was pretty pissed at the weather but i was with my YES 09-ers, so that made things significantly better. We then decided to go to the food court for an economically sensible lunch since we were planning to blow a hole in our wallet by going to Chilis for dinner.
Instead of karaoke-ing, we sat and talked. We caught up with what was going on with each others lives and shared news about those who were absent.
Remember, we would have world peace, if and only if, someone started wearing underwear ;)
After much brainstorming on what to do next, we all decided to just head down to KLCC and see what to do from there. We walked in the drizzling rain and contemplated where to go and what train to take.
It was very tourist-ish of us.
When we got there we wandered around a bit and headed to Chili's for dinner. They couldn't find a big enough space for us and so we begged them to let us fit ourselves into a 8-seat booth. There were 10 of us.
Well, what can i say, that's how we roll.
I was sure as hell determined to get some alcohol coursing through my veins that night, so i wanted a margarita. My first ever legal margarita. It's not that i like drinking or a very good drinker, but i just needed to do this to commemorate my 18th birthday.
I passed my IC excitedly to Ravi (his real name was puspa), a name Deanna gave our waiter that stuck with us ever since. He was really helpful and a nice chap. He's from Nepal.
He totally decided on what drink i should take to get drunk. He gave me the El Nino. I was like, ok why the hell not.
The food came and the booze flowed into my body. Halfway through the gigantic glass they gave me, my body was already heating up and red. I could feel my veins pulsating through my skin. I knew i had to pace myself, or i would end up getting a real bad headache.
The food was actually pretty ok. Not exactly, authentic Mexican but it tasted a little like America. The nachos they served for appetizers were however very disappointing. They were too thin to even taste like nachos. No wonder they serve them bottomless.
I love the fajitas and quesadillas :)
Ravi even gave me free dessert. I was making this long winded speech, very Miss World like, the the wind cut me short by blowing out my candle. I was a little bit tipsy by then and was a little pissed. But Ravi relighted the candle for me which was really nice of him!
At the end, all of them decided to foot the bill and i offered to pay, they would not have any of it. I love you guys! :)
Before we left, we had to finish my margarita. We ended up playing some lame drinking game and finished it up. We had this theory that teri was losing on purpose so that she could drink, what a bad underaged girl. I should have never encouraged a minor to drink.
After dinner, some headed back to my casa for an improtu sleepover while some headed back home. Jim, Bernard, Fiona and Nilo decided to come over for a late night mamak session.
My sister and vina drove us back from the KTM and i can not thank them so much. It was really nice of them. When we got home, i showered and made myself presentable before heading out again to Spicy Kitchen for another round of eating and talking.
It seems like all that i've done for my 18th birthday is just eat. Not that i'm complaining. Good food and good company makes me happy to no end. Jon came over to wish me happy birthday! Thanks man.
When the clock struck midnight, we burst out into song and decided to sing Eva a birthday song, because i was officially 18 and one day older then, but she just turned 18.
Such a loser for having a birthday after mine ;)
Joking only la eva.
1. Eva: Lame, Me: Awesome :)
2. Camwhoring on the elevator.
3. Me, Vina, Sister and Eva
4. She poked my eyes and scratched me, such a bad friend :(
5. Mr Happy pouts
6. Just stretching before the long night ahead.
7. John Travolta would be proud ;)
8. Rendezvous at McDs
9. Our supper, a very unhealthy one i might add.
10. Nini and Eva
11. We sprinkled pepper over the Spicy Chicken McDeluxe for an extra zing
The reponse:
12. Wah seh, super nice.
13. Hehe, so hot my limps bloated until my momma also cannot recognize liao.
14. Why nobody told me it was so hot one?
15. Everyone is beautiful. Case in point ;)
16. This is as close as i'll ever get to be lingerie model x)
17. Vina posing with water.
18. Eva and Nini posing outside the cinema
19. This is when the phone started ringing, that explains the phone glued to my head.
20. Starbucks in Times Square
21. Caramel macchiato, soy milk and iced please :)
22. Posing with my free drink
23. Vina, me, Nini and Eva.
24. Sharma showed up
25. Then bernard came
26. Me being silly
27. A very paparazzi shot
28. Teri and I
29. TEEEEEERRRRRRRIIIIIIIII!!
30. Deanna, without a banana, which is pretty weird ;)
31. Norman, without his mangosteen hair, which is even more weird ;)
32. Deanna went through her purse and found the receipt for her purchase of those monster drinks we had at DC on our last night
33. Teri and I. We look so good together la buddy!
34. Me being silly again.
35. Teri and Bernard. Not as great looking as me and her together ;)
36. Bern, Normie and Deanna.
37. We're the dancers! You've gotta watch the SNL parody of single ladies to understand
38. Lip pout and smiles
39. Fiona. She very photogenic la.
40. Look at eva, being retarded! Made me laugh when i saw this.
41.
42. Me: Work it models, work it.
43. Me: Give me fierce, i want fierce!
44. KL Tower
45. Dang Wangi Station and a few of the left without us :(
46. Camwhore!
47. Everyone say fabuu :)
48. Fiona and I
49. Jim decided to join us. That's ravi at the end of the table ;)
50. Teri and Jim
51. Deanna and I
52 Me, Deanna, Bern and Norm.
53.
54. Group shot
55. Then they decided to punch the birthday boy. How quaint.
56. Bottomless nachos
57. My el nino
58. Feeding frenzy
59. Illicit feeding
60. We were wild and rowdy
61. I love them all!
62. The food. It was awesome!
63. Posing with our drinks.
64. Deanna feeding me
65. Such a ladies man la bernard.
66. Eva and Teri
67. The Sharpie-fied orange says it all.
68. I was so happy to have a cake. Then i made my speech.
69. Then the wind snuffed it out, i was offended and pissed.
70. Ravi relighted, i finished my speech and blew the candle :)
71. They then made me eat the cherry in a sexual manner. In fact, the word cherry is a sexual innuendo itself ;)
Naughty naughty. But just to clear things up, i hate canned and preserved cherries. Make me wanna puke.
72. The serviette says it all
73. Jim, Bern and I
74. I was a little drunk and was pretty daring.
75. Deanna on the other hand was out of control and did not drink at all
76. Nilo and Teri and Kepong KTM
77. Empty station
78. Posers gila.
79. Me
80. Eva
81. Jim
82. Bernard
83. Jonathan
84. Vina
85. Nilo
86. Fiona
87. Me and Nilo
88. Me moving my hand and nose stuffed with tissue
87. Group shot :)
88. This is what they do to us while we sleep like little babies.
89. We did not stir a bit in our deep sleep.
90.Fiona had to do it too.
In a way you expect to feel liberated, to feel like shackles that confined you just slip to the ground from you dieting too much until you were so thin it just well, fell away. But sadly, it felt like any other birthday but the only difference - you've passed a milestone in your life. In this case, my life.
I'm 18, single and ready to rule to world. The next birthday i look forward to is my 21st ;)
On the 16th of October, there was supposed to be this surprise party for me. But you know me, i love uncovering surprises. I had this tiny little minuscule feeling that my sister was up to something and true enough i was right.
You know how i found out? I was on facebook on the 16th and commented on something on Sheena's wall. She replied and added something at the end, "I'm sorry i can't come for your thing tonight."
To which i replied, "What thing?"
Then the sirens went off, my sister was planning a surprise party for me. But it got called off last minute because no one could make it at such short notice. The backup plan was to go catch a late night movie at One Utama to usher in my birthday. So my sister rallied in Eva and Vina to come with us.
And so we did. We got out tickets, then had McD's for supper. Eva who was not exposed to the art of eating fries with pepper-sprinkled chili sauce was addicted to it at the end of our food tasting session.
Walking around One Utama at the dead of the night with all the shop close was a tad bit eerie. I've never seen it so empty in my life ever. At one part when we were walking through a dimly lit part of the mall, i was thinking that this was how horror movies were enacted.
Teenagers walking through the mall and some psychopath-cum-slasher-cum-murderer that escaped from a nearby institution will jump out on us and start slitting our throats, gutting out guts and etc. You get what i'm trying to illustrate.
Right when the movie started, 12am sharp, my phone kept buzzing. I got some calls and i got a few texts. It was sweet that my friends actually remembered and waited till 12 before they rang me up or texted me.
Thank you so much :)
Being true to myself and being a diva that i always was, a few of my friends decided to call me a few minutes to an hour before my birthday and i gave them hell about it.
"You are aware of the fact that my birthday is still X minutes away right? So why are you calling now you bitch?"
I know, i know. I'm such a great friend.
Let me just say that The Life of Pippa Lee wasn't really the movie i imagined watching while turning 18. It was, err, different. I fell asleep during the movie. That was a first for me, i never sleep in the cinema. Never ever.
Not even when i was jet lagged and Dean and Stacey dragged me out into the Minnesotan cold weather to watch The Curious Case of Benjamin Button at Grandview theater.
By the time the show ended and we got home, i plopped into bed and slept till 7 in the morning.
Momma and poppa tsantir called through skype and we talked. It was really nice of them and when we just started, Mia barked. My heart was aching when i heard her bark. I miss her!
By the time it was noon, i got ready and headed down to KL for my very badly planned and structured birthday party.
We went all around KL. We wanted to karaoke but the rates of the rooms were outrageously expensive and overpriced. We kinda came up with plans spontaneously. When we walked to Low Yat and figured out that we should go to Pavilion to find out the rates for the room, it was pouring outside.
I was pretty pissed at the weather but i was with my YES 09-ers, so that made things significantly better. We then decided to go to the food court for an economically sensible lunch since we were planning to blow a hole in our wallet by going to Chilis for dinner.
Instead of karaoke-ing, we sat and talked. We caught up with what was going on with each others lives and shared news about those who were absent.
Remember, we would have world peace, if and only if, someone started wearing underwear ;)
After much brainstorming on what to do next, we all decided to just head down to KLCC and see what to do from there. We walked in the drizzling rain and contemplated where to go and what train to take.
It was very tourist-ish of us.
When we got there we wandered around a bit and headed to Chili's for dinner. They couldn't find a big enough space for us and so we begged them to let us fit ourselves into a 8-seat booth. There were 10 of us.
Well, what can i say, that's how we roll.
I was sure as hell determined to get some alcohol coursing through my veins that night, so i wanted a margarita. My first ever legal margarita. It's not that i like drinking or a very good drinker, but i just needed to do this to commemorate my 18th birthday.
I passed my IC excitedly to Ravi (his real name was puspa), a name Deanna gave our waiter that stuck with us ever since. He was really helpful and a nice chap. He's from Nepal.
He totally decided on what drink i should take to get drunk. He gave me the El Nino. I was like, ok why the hell not.
The food came and the booze flowed into my body. Halfway through the gigantic glass they gave me, my body was already heating up and red. I could feel my veins pulsating through my skin. I knew i had to pace myself, or i would end up getting a real bad headache.
The food was actually pretty ok. Not exactly, authentic Mexican but it tasted a little like America. The nachos they served for appetizers were however very disappointing. They were too thin to even taste like nachos. No wonder they serve them bottomless.
I love the fajitas and quesadillas :)
Ravi even gave me free dessert. I was making this long winded speech, very Miss World like, the the wind cut me short by blowing out my candle. I was a little bit tipsy by then and was a little pissed. But Ravi relighted the candle for me which was really nice of him!
At the end, all of them decided to foot the bill and i offered to pay, they would not have any of it. I love you guys! :)
Before we left, we had to finish my margarita. We ended up playing some lame drinking game and finished it up. We had this theory that teri was losing on purpose so that she could drink, what a bad underaged girl. I should have never encouraged a minor to drink.
After dinner, some headed back to my casa for an improtu sleepover while some headed back home. Jim, Bernard, Fiona and Nilo decided to come over for a late night mamak session.
My sister and vina drove us back from the KTM and i can not thank them so much. It was really nice of them. When we got home, i showered and made myself presentable before heading out again to Spicy Kitchen for another round of eating and talking.
It seems like all that i've done for my 18th birthday is just eat. Not that i'm complaining. Good food and good company makes me happy to no end. Jon came over to wish me happy birthday! Thanks man.
When the clock struck midnight, we burst out into song and decided to sing Eva a birthday song, because i was officially 18 and one day older then, but she just turned 18.
Such a loser for having a birthday after mine ;)
Joking only la eva.
1. Eva: Lame, Me: Awesome :)
2. Camwhoring on the elevator.
3. Me, Vina, Sister and Eva
4. She poked my eyes and scratched me, such a bad friend :(
5. Mr Happy pouts
6. Just stretching before the long night ahead.
7. John Travolta would be proud ;)
8. Rendezvous at McDs
9. Our supper, a very unhealthy one i might add.
10. Nini and Eva
11. We sprinkled pepper over the Spicy Chicken McDeluxe for an extra zing
The reponse:
12. Wah seh, super nice.
13. Hehe, so hot my limps bloated until my momma also cannot recognize liao.
14. Why nobody told me it was so hot one?
15. Everyone is beautiful. Case in point ;)
16. This is as close as i'll ever get to be lingerie model x)
17. Vina posing with water.
18. Eva and Nini posing outside the cinema
19. This is when the phone started ringing, that explains the phone glued to my head.
20. Starbucks in Times Square
21. Caramel macchiato, soy milk and iced please :)
22. Posing with my free drink
23. Vina, me, Nini and Eva.
24. Sharma showed up
25. Then bernard came
26. Me being silly
27. A very paparazzi shot
28. Teri and I
29. TEEEEEERRRRRRRIIIIIIIII!!
30. Deanna, without a banana, which is pretty weird ;)
31. Norman, without his mangosteen hair, which is even more weird ;)
32. Deanna went through her purse and found the receipt for her purchase of those monster drinks we had at DC on our last night
33. Teri and I. We look so good together la buddy!
34. Me being silly again.
35. Teri and Bernard. Not as great looking as me and her together ;)
36. Bern, Normie and Deanna.
37. We're the dancers! You've gotta watch the SNL parody of single ladies to understand
38. Lip pout and smiles
39. Fiona. She very photogenic la.
40. Look at eva, being retarded! Made me laugh when i saw this.
41.
42. Me: Work it models, work it.
43. Me: Give me fierce, i want fierce!
44. KL Tower
45. Dang Wangi Station and a few of the left without us :(
46. Camwhore!
47. Everyone say fabuu :)
48. Fiona and I
49. Jim decided to join us. That's ravi at the end of the table ;)
50. Teri and Jim
51. Deanna and I
52 Me, Deanna, Bern and Norm.
53.
54. Group shot
55. Then they decided to punch the birthday boy. How quaint.
56. Bottomless nachos
57. My el nino
58. Feeding frenzy
59. Illicit feeding
60. We were wild and rowdy
61. I love them all!
62. The food. It was awesome!
63. Posing with our drinks.
64. Deanna feeding me
65. Such a ladies man la bernard.
66. Eva and Teri
67. The Sharpie-fied orange says it all.
68. I was so happy to have a cake. Then i made my speech.
69. Then the wind snuffed it out, i was offended and pissed.
70. Ravi relighted, i finished my speech and blew the candle :)
71. They then made me eat the cherry in a sexual manner. In fact, the word cherry is a sexual innuendo itself ;)
Naughty naughty. But just to clear things up, i hate canned and preserved cherries. Make me wanna puke.
72. The serviette says it all
73. Jim, Bern and I
74. I was a little drunk and was pretty daring.
75. Deanna on the other hand was out of control and did not drink at all
76. Nilo and Teri and Kepong KTM
77. Empty station
78. Posers gila.
79. Me
80. Eva
81. Jim
82. Bernard
83. Jonathan
84. Vina
85. Nilo
86. Fiona
87. Me and Nilo
88. Me moving my hand and nose stuffed with tissue
87. Group shot :)
88. This is what they do to us while we sleep like little babies.
89. We did not stir a bit in our deep sleep.
90.Fiona had to do it too.