Seven Days, One Veek

I’m having one of those ‘woW!!’ moments again. Last Monday felt like a month ago and yet when I think about it today, I just can’t believe that so many things could have taken place in a measly seven days.

On Monday, we managed to surprise the rather un-surprisable Sean. HAPPY 21st bIrThDaY, Mr. S.S!


Man, it was just so hard to keep this all incognito from a guy who is so perceptive… or just too damm suspicious of everything! But we managed it! Yeap, we did!


We've forgotten to bring along a lighter so we had to use the power of imagination to help Sean blow out those candles!


First cut!

Got everyone to meet at the foyer at 12 noon for you see, in order to surprise the un-surprisable, one must employ tactics, cunning, strategy and a little luck!


The sign he was holding up was suppose to read"Happy Birthday Sean! G.G".

Sean had Ball Booth duty and Marketing Strategy Implementation discussion from 12-1. The opportune moment has thus presented itself as he already knows we were up to something… he just doesn’t know when or where.

The booth duty and MSI discussion were the perfect cover for our dastardly deed!

So before the main man’s arrival, we’ve rigged up a crude banner for him to roll down from the booth’s board.



I told him it was the new décor for the booth and as he stood up to release the duct tape, take cake was rolled out (well, carried out) and everyone converged to him as he looked at the unfolding banner dumbfounded for about 1/8th of a second!

---------------------------------------------

On Wednesday was my mom’s retirement day. Now, I have BOTH my parents at home 24/7. Truth be told, this is something I am totally not used to as my parents were working people for the better part of my life. It is going to take some adjustment on my part.


Two generations of Loks are now officially in their golden years.

Dinner was at her favorite seafood restaurant somewhere in Taman Suria. I got her a RM 100 worth facial pampering session but the voucher requires a Monash student ID. Hopefully, the shop will understand that my mother will gladly take my place.


The main evento!


The crab's death cam.

Found a tripod at home which I thought I didn’t have and had some fun with it at the restaurant. Didn’t really set the right ISO for the shutter speed I was using but hey… I’m a work in progress. :P


The 'whooshhh' NoS effect.


Sisteeeerrrrrrrrrrrssssssssssssssssssssssss!



Pete and Sharon.


Me doing a Roy Mustang impression. *snap!*

---------------------------------------------

On Friday was the Monash Street Party. Everything went accordingly to plan… except for the heavy downpour that lasted till about ten.

Stuck in the tents!

Xia yu la!

It was like a flood victim refugee centre…

… and the violence escalated as the food shortage became more dire. r4\/\/0r!!!

Still, I guess taking shelter with friends is as best as any place one could wish for in the rain.

Have no worries, sir! We are professionally trained emergency medical technicians! You are in good hands now.

Could’ve taken much more cooler shots but my camera decided to choose this moment to die on me.

---------------------------------------------

On Saturday, the guys and I met up with Brenda at KLCC with a surprise appearance from Shu Ying.

This time, I think I’ve finally discovered the basic art of photography. Still need some help here and alot of practice there, but the camera’s manual was a good starting guide for me.
To avoid cluttering this particular entry, I will display my gallery of sceneries in a future post. Could be a new hobby of mine!

Someday soon, I will own every piece of property in the KL region. Buahahaha!

This really cracks me up. The KLCC LRT station toilet is apparently a ‘new concept’? That is a mighty good reason to charge us 20 cents, no?

--------------------------------------------------------

The other days passed on pretty much uneventful. There were a few twist and turns… as I discovered that life can still kick you in the nuts after you’ve think you have gotten over certain problems or issues.

*Sigh* aw, well… At least now the opportunity to fight my inner demons head-on has risen to a more considerable challenge. The fact that this new development will test whether or not the pact I’ve made for this year is all hot-air or something serious.


“Sooner or later, we all have to think like mature adults. No one knows this better than the young.”

Anjing-ku!

Some dogs gnaw on footwear. Some chew-up the lawn. There are even others that bite chunks off the furniture.

My dog? He has an appetite for… cars!
Oh, and all of the above too.

He has already bitten off all the mud gutters from my car (and my sister’s car, and my sister’s bf car and my mom’s company Perdana too!) >:_(

Fredrick is a one year old Golden Retriever that has the size of a full grown dog but a heart of a puppy. Damm manja wan! He will just sit at the front door and stare longingly inside the hall, begging you to open the door.


"You can't ignoreeee meeeee..."

"... cause I'll still find a way in... Buwahahahahahah!"

But don’t be fooled. This guy has only one thing in mind… FOOD!
As soon as he “tipu” you, he will rush in (damm f***king fast for a big dog) and go on a rampage through the indoor dustbins.

If we all give chase (we are concerned that he will eat something… indigestible. But for him, I rather doubt that there is anything he won’t eat) he will deliberately grab the closest thing with his mouth (be it paper or mom’s pantyhose), knowing full well he has been busted and make a mad dash behind the couch against the wall, burrowing like a rabbit.

Then he will sit in there, silently laughing to himself as we all frantically pull away the entire couch and pray open his mouth before he swallows it.

And he knows which family member to go to whenever there is trouble. My little sister! He seriously exploits her! Whenever he does something bad, he will run to my sister and hides behind her. Or when he knows he is not suppose to be in the house, he will lie by my sister’s side, looking at us and as if saying:

"Oh, see? See? Just look how happy Janie is when I am here! Look at that face! Please don't make her sad! Don't send poor old me outside in the cold... I just want to make her happy! Please, please, please!"


When he was cuter... :(

The monster now.

Smart ass dogs, these Goldies are, I'll give em that. He figured out how to open the outdoor shoe cabinet and help himself to all the goodie shoes inside. Expensive shoes... Leather shoes... MY SHOES!

We now have to brace the cabinet with a steering lock...




And he also bullies my older doggie, Chance. Chance is like a sweet older, wiser and patience brother. He lets Freddy push him about but when he goes too far (which is all the time) he will show the young one his place in the pack.

However, all this racketing is making my senior doggie much more stressful in his retirement age. Poor Chance.

Actually, Penny's dog looks alot like my senior doggie.
And suspiciously, he also goes by the name Chance too.
I've come to a conclusion that we actually own the same dog who travels back and forth btw ss2 and TTDi through some dark means...

Evil means... This dog is unclean...
Well, mine is anyway. Literally!

“Sometimes, those that walk in darkness have to make their own light.”

Wicked Sick

Had the flu since Sunday. Being sick really sux00rz. Big time!

Reason number one: Constantly being kept awake at night.
Either my constitution is weak or the medicine I’m taking is causing slight paranoia and hallucinations, but I keep having these reoccurring dreams of retaking SPM! Sometimes it is mixed with my university subjects, like I am taking my business papers but on top of that I’ve got a biology test at high school the next day. Although there are many variations to the dream (eg: being late for the test, not wearing any clothing during the KH paper, panic attack half-way through AddMaths), the theme is basically the same. I am not prepared for SPM. Sometimes, I am fully aware that I already did my SPM and I already gotten my results in my dreams, but there is still an urge to study for something that has already passed.

Could it be a residual regret for not scoring better? Or is it that ever since SPM, I have not seriously sat down and really studied anymore? Was my high school life really such a horrible experience that I am suffering the first signs of post-traumatic stress disorder?

Wakakakakakaa! I think it’s just the meds.

Reason number two: Cold sweats during the day.
During a hot day, the body feels a chill. So I put on another layer or wear thicker clothing. But that will just add to overall body heat, thus escalating the fever further. It gives me temporary relief from the chills, but sooner or later I got to take the extra layer off when it gets too stuffy. When the accumulated sweat makes contact with the air directly, it is akin to being dunk into a pool of ice! Chilling indeed.

Oh, and avoid wearing black when not in the best of health. Now, I’m not a superstitious fella, but I honestly feel sucky-ier when I am wearing black when ill. Maybe science (black does absorb and retain more heat) or beyond (heard that the color black attracts a darker vibe, a non-cheerier disposition to the wearer) but whatever the case may be, you only see light-colored hospital gowns.

Reason number three: Grumpy.
Yeah, on a shorter fuse. Hehehe… Shorter than usual. There is this constant buzz about in the head and nasal areas. And the coughs… Oh, how they hurt. :(
Doesn’t help that I have a Film Studies assignment due this week plus I need to reorganize the sitting plan for the uni’s annual Ball. Jeeperz… No mood…


Anyway, besides wallowing in self-pity for being sick, my sister’s boyfriend came up with this loco idea. Ever heard of broadcasting Astro over a standard home wireless router? Wicked sick idea, man… of course he hasn’t gotten it to work yet. Hope the problems of my computer acting whacked these past few days aren’t the result of his tempering.

Oh, and I am going for my green belt jujitsu grading tomorrow. Hopefully, I will be back on my feet by morning.

“I’ll hound you night and day!”
”Then be a good dog. Sit, stay!”

From Russia, with Kenya

The ending credits to the movie scrolls upwards on the projected screen, signaling the end of yet another of my Film Studies lectures. I can think of worse ways to spend a Friday morning.

The movie for the day was Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. For a sorta indie film, it has stocks of high hitting casts such as Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Kirsten Dunst and Elijah Wood. Dunst looks so ultra cute especially when she gets high on pot and Elijah Woods… is much taller than I am used to. Oh yeah, he is also the movie’s minor protagonist with a fetish for women’s underwear.

Carrey takes on a much more introvert role (and quite a fuzzy one too) although there were times where he did his usual Carry-ness antic. Actually, the whole movie is sort of a reminiscence of a more psychedelic Truman Show.

Anyway, there was this Caucasian girl sitting sideways towards me and right after the lights went on, she made a complementary remark about my supposedly lucky (and supposedly 100 % shark tooth) necklace. I mumbled a thanks and casually asked her where she hailed from. Russia was her response.

At that point, all I could think off for a charming response to a Russian student (and a rather cute one at that!) was vodka jokes and really bad Commander Chekov impersonations.


"Where are ze nukeluar wessels?"


In Russia, everything can be solved with enough vodka!

It kind of reminds me of a time when I met an African student during one of my CG gatherings. We struck up a conversation and I asked where she was from. She said Kenya and, with a raised eyebrow, asked me if I knew where exactly Kenya was.

I answered enthusiastically of course.

“Africa!”

And then she asked: “Which part?”

… …. ...

“I dunno.”

And she did the ‘huh!’ sound one makes when hearing an expected answer. At first, I was kinda put off. I mean give me a break already! How was I supposed to know there was going to be a geographical pop quiz at a church function? Did ya want the exact longitude and latitude of Kenya too?

Then comes to the day where I met the cute Russian. I could not think of anything intelligent to state or say about Russia either. All I know from the thousands of movies and computer games that I have consumed in the past is that everything sounds cooler when you say it in a Russian accent.

Now, if I've thought of it in this way in relation to the Kenya student’s question: What if an American came to me and asked me where I was from. I say Malaysia and then he goes “Ohhhh… yeah, yeah, I’ve heard of that country before, dude! It’s in Asia, no?”

No shit in Asia.

No shit in Africa too, in my case.

I guess ignorance isn’t just epidemic to Westerners after all.

So I did what I do best. I Wiki-ed Kenya and Russia!
Oh, and vodka too!

“Don’t worry, man. I’ve got your back.”
”It isn’t my back I’m worried about…”

Out`sync

Why is it that I feel out of sync with time. I am always at the wrong moment, at the wrong place, going the wrong way.

Maybe at another time or in a slightly different situation, things could’ve worked out. But there is always this tiny bit of… how do I put it? An element… a certain something that just isn’t right or in the right amount which causes things to go south.

It is akin to getting a bad hand in a game of cards. You do what you can to soften your losses, but it’ll still end up the same way… a lost.

I know this may sound a little whiny (nay, a little ungrateful even seeing how blessed I am to have a family that is loving and healthy, great REAL true blue friends who are like the brothers I did not have, my health, economical security, solid education, etc etc…) but why does it feel that I have chosen the wrong degree? Why do I realize things too late? Why didn’t I see things the way they are sooner?
Looking back, if the conditions where ideal, if I was in that guy’s shoes as who I am now, man…I could have gotten that girl. I could have gotten that part-time job. I could have avoided misery. I could be in a ‘group’ for once instead of a regular “lone wolf” in school. Lots of could’ve been…

Or is this just another classical case of grasses always looking greener from the other side of the fence. Like the song goes… Nothing tastes as sweet as what I can’t have.

Not that I am really complaining or anything. Right now, life is going great. In fact, I’ve never felt so good about myself for such a sustainable stretch of time.

I finally figured how to carry myself around. Walking, talking, playing, dressing, studying… It all comes naturally to me now. Everything fits (sorta anyway).

It isn’t… “forced” anymore. Like… like I’m finally (and truthfully) comfortable operating naturally in my own skin. I’ve noticed that I now do not let my environment or any shitty circumstances to deeply influence me to feel a certain way.

But why didn’t I figure all these out in the BEGINNING of my uni life, not the last semester of my final year as a student. Hell, if I’ve experienced this paradigm shift in self-imagery back in good ole Dee Jay (and I mean “good ole” in an extremely sarcastic manner), my high school life would be a much more pleasant and different experience.

Before I will know it, I’ll be out in the big cruel world of employment and I’ll have to start learning the ropes all over again. Figuring thing out all over again, making mistakes, getting hurt. Yes, without a doubt very strong medicine that would make me tougher, leaner, and meaner.

But can’t I enjoy this “high” for just a little longer? I don’t feel ready yet to go out in the world with adult responsibilities. Studying life, which is now crystal clear to me, is the best time of one’s life. Such a carefree existent with papa and momma to take care of everything.

Sigh… Yeah, yeah… It’s probably time to suck it up and grow up.

I’ll just have to savor theses last few months and hopefully, get to tie up shoestrings. My ultimate wish is to settle and possibly patch up certain…. issues.

“Vote for Pedro!”